A Long Time Coming [Ian]

Ian looked up as Sol arrived at his office, smiling at him.

"Come in!" He said, even as the other did, not needing the invitation. He seemed at ease, at least as at ease Ian ever was, so it probably wasn't bad news. Actually...it wasn't. He just wanted to talk to his son, they worked in the same space, had lunch together from time to time...but they both kept so busy on their own they didn't spend as much together lately. Especially Sol, engrossed in whatever it was him and Whiskey did down in the other's work space.

Which...was part of what he wanted to talk about. There was something going on there and...he wanted to have a better idea what was going on in his son's life. It was just...a strange and awkward topic to bring up and he hadn't been able to bring himself to just go down there and straight up ask.

"Nothing. Nothing is wrong...we just haven't had much of a chance to talk or visit lately, we've both been so busy..."

Solomon visibly relaxed when Ian assured him that everything was okay, giving a soft laugh and nodding, "we really haven't, had we?" He put a hand to his cheek and leaned back in his chair, "between helping Whiskey get his space situated in the new base and our research..." He laughed and shook his head, "not enough time in the day...I'm glad you called me in here!" He meant that, he wanted to enjoy all the time he could with his father, especially now that things had settled down a tad, "have things been going better since we moved?" He grinned and leaned forwards, "been getting along with Harley?" He nodded and chuckled, "I'm glad you've got a good friend."

He leaned his elbows against his desk and smiled, "so what kind of work have you been doing? I know we haven't had any recent serious injuries...Thank goodness." He didn't want anymore people hurt the way some of them had come back, and he imagined Ian felt the same.

Ian nodded. "I'm finding a routine in all of it. And being back in the states, it's easier to stay in touch with all my work in Maryland too....so it works out as sort of the best of both worlds." he smiled.

There was just the hint of a flush at the mention of Harley, but he didn't pause over it long. "He's an interesting man, incredibly intelligent...it's nice to have someone else to talk to who's eyes just don't start glazing over when I get too indepth into things." He laughed quietly.

"Mostly I'm available if people need me...a lot of it is time to continue to spend on my research however." He leaned back in his chair, pushing his glasses further up his nose.

"What is it you've been so busy working on down there?" He asked, finally bringing the topic back around in that direction. "It seems you've made pretty good friends with Whiskey...little bit of an odd fellow, he is..." Odd didn't mean bad at all...but he was a strange....person? He certainly wasn't all human, at least not how Ian was used to seeing humans...he was a bit fascinated by the other and some of the odd tech he used to survive, but he was also curious exactly what his son saw in him.

Solomon chuckled, giving a nod at that, "it's so weird being back in the states, isn't it? We spent quite a while in Europe." He almost missed it, but being here was more convenient, and this base as a whole was much more secure than the one they were at, "the security of this place is phenomenal though, underground is much safer." And much harder to track given the nature of this facility. He really felt truly safe here.

He caught the flush, the slightest hitch in his words before he kept on at the mention of Harley, it was curious, but he decided not to even entertain the idea. He could remember the last time he'd ever made any mention of his dad having feelings for other men, he'd been blown up at, it was a topic they never crossed. It was one of the reasons Sol had gone to such lengths to keep his father from finding out just how close he was to Whiskey, there was a deeply rooted fear there, fear of disappointing his father and fear of what he might to.

His eyes jerked back to meet him when he mentioned Whiskey, chuckling softly, "at the moment we're tracking Talon, and trying to discover the nature of these...Angels...That the team encountered during the attack on Gibraltar." He cheeks reddened a tad when Ian pointed out how close they were, causing him to shift, "I...Admire him. He's...He gets me." He gestured with his hands, as if trying to find the words, "he's not like anyone I've met before and I just...Admire him." He could feel his heartbeat picking up, a mild panic rising, would he figure it out? Would he say something?

"From what I've heard a lot happened in Gibraltar towards the end...I don't blame him for wanting to take the time to try and make some sense of it all, and exactly what we might be facing off against. At least here I don't think anyone will be bothering us for at least a while..." It would be good to have some breathing space, he could sense they all needed it.

He folded his hands and rested them on the desk, looking intently at his son as he talked about Whiskey. There...was really no mistaking what was happening here...it's what he'd been curious about...but now that he was looking at it...it felt awkward to say it. Their last conversation on this front had gone poorly, and he was reluctant to poke at it again. What did it really matter anyway, who he was interested in?

He cleared his throat a little, glancing to the side, then back again. "It's good to have that. To have people to look up to, people who understand you and appreciate you." A pause. "It would seem he enjoys spending time around you too...so much in common, you must have a lot to talk about..."

Sol nodded and looked thoughtful, "yes, we're lucky they all made it back okay...Well...Almost all..." He sighed softly and rubbed a hand over hid face, "we don't know where George is, he's alive, I am sure of it, but his whereabouts are presently unknown." It was frustrating, everyone had made it home safe but George, but he was sure the man would turn up again, in the meantime they had to focus on who was here now, "having the base underground was a brilliant idea, I believe it was Jack and Fishkid...Uh...Whiskey who cooked that idea up." He chuckled and shook his head, "Jack seems horrified about being here, but it is the safest place we could be." Though he had noticed the smell Jack had mentioned.

When the conversation turned back to Whiskey and his relationship, he became visibly nervous, fidgeting and looking to the side, "yeah...It's uh...It's nice." Could he tell? He hoped not, his brain was replaying that conversation ages ago and it was making him anxious and afraid all over again, "He...Listens...Usually no one but you understands what I'm saying when I talk...But he does...And..." He swallowed and didn't meet his father's eyes, "he...Knows me...In a way not many people do." He could feel his flight or fight response kicking in, and he wasn't about to fight his father, "I uh...Hmm..." He could feel tears threatening to bubble up. Shit, what was wrong with him?!

Ian watched with growing concern at his son's increasingly nervous behavior the more the conversation continued. He hadn't meant to put him on the spot and make him feel uncomfortable, but now it was worrying him a little bit. He'd certainly struck a nerve, but he wasn't sure which one.

"Solomon. Look at me." He finally said, He rarely used his son's full name, when he did it demanded attention, however his tone wasn't unkind. "I didn't mean to bring you here to make you feel on edge or uncomfortable...but something obviously seems to be bothering you. What's going on?" He asked, more concerned than anything else.

Sol was feeling more and more like he needed to escape and hide, he hated it, he hated feeling like this around his own father. But he supposed it was inevitable that this would come back to haunt him, and maybe now he could find out once and for all if feeling this way would disappoint the man he respected more than anyone else. He felt his tears welling up more, and when his father addressed him by his full name, his head snapped up and he felt them slip down his cheeks.

"I...I'm..." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, trying his best to meet his father's eyes, "I...I like Whiskey...A-and...It's not....It isn't just as a friend or a colleague...I like him." He bit his lip hard and looked down, "and I've been scared to death to tell you...B-because I remember when it came up ages ago and...You seemed so against it I just..." He reached to fiddle with and squeeze his tie anxiously, "I don't want you to be disappointed...I-I don't want..." He never cried, but he couldn't seem to stop it now, "I don't want my dad to stop loving me...I can;t keep pretending I don't feel the way I do though...I'm...I'm sorry..." He looked down now, swallowing hard and looking like he was bracing himself for the worst.

At first Ian didn't respond, he wasn't sure how to respond. The color drained out of his face, not at what his son had told him, but at his words, his hurt and fear that he'd had to keep this from him, afraid of what might happen otherwise. For a single, deeply nauseating moment he realized he'd somehow managed to slip on this one, that his son looked at him the way he looked at his own father...even if just over one aspect of his life, it was one too many.

"My God." he finally managed. "No...I'm sorry."

He crossed over, pulling him close. "It's okay...I'm not...I'm not upset, I promise." He said, trying to piece through his own feelings as he went. "It...maybe it is a bit odd..." He wasn't even fully sure exactly what Whiskey *was* in all of his elaborate set-up, that part was strange, he wouldn't deny it. But still. "But I'm not...God, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I ever made you feel like this."

Sol was usually exceedingly good at reading people, he could discern what they felt by looking at them, but he was having a hard time reading the expression on his father's face, he'd gone rather pale, with a disturbed look on his face, and for a moment he feared with a sinking gut that maybe that horror was directed at him, and he opened his mouth for another string of apologies, another volley of apologizing for being the way he was.

But when Ian reached to hug him, he relaxed against him, and for once he didn't flinch away or react. He usually didn't like being touched, but he'd needed it, "dad..." He pressed his face into his shoulder and tried to calm his sniffling, hanging onto him for dear life, "I'm not asking you to understand...I...I know it's odd..." He smiled a little and pulled back, "I just need to know that I'm still your son...No matter what..."

Ian held him back tightly, not trusting his voice for a few minutes. He didn't understand it, that was true. But he could try his best to make sense of it, try to be there for him as much as he knew how, just as he always had been. He wondered how long this had been digging at him, eating at him, afraid to say it because of how it might be reacted to. The feeling of guilt was incredible.

"It's okay." He finally spoke, his voice only wavered a little. "I don't have to understand it right now...of course you're still my son. You're always my son." He reassured him.

Sol stayed where he was for a moment before finally pulling back to look over Ian's face, wiping his hands over his eyes and giving a soft, relieved laugh, "I'm...I know he's...Not totally human...But we click." He looked to the side and chewed his lip nervously, trying to find the words to explain himself, "I've never clicked with anyone the way I do him...It's amazing."

He put a hand to his cheek, giving an embarrassed laugh, "listen to me..." He let out a soft sigh after a moment and looked back up at him, "thank you..F-for accepting me...I was really scared." It felt silly now to think that he'd ever been afraid of his father of all people, but the fear had been real for such a long time, he was endlessly relieved.