"You seem distracted," Asher tells him.

Chance turns his head, catches sight of the demon as they pace slowly around the room. The lab is currently deserted, save for the two of them, which Chance prefers, because he'd rather do his observations without all of the eyes of anyone else on him. He takes notes on a clipboard, draws sketches of his weapon's form for later, so that he can be more familiar with his weapon in general.

"Distracted?" Chance repeats, and Asher tilts their head, soft strands of white falling about their face.

"If I was in your head, I would be able to tell you where your thoughts have gone," they say lightly. "But I am not, so I merely have your facial expressions to read off of. You do not seem fully in yourself, rather...out of it, I assume one could say."

Chance laughs a little, making another note on his board. "Just thinking, I suppose," he says, and pulls his sketchpad into his lap, idly drawing out a few lines. "About everything."

Asher knows him well enough not to pry, doesn't need to pry. They step over and cold fingers touch the side of Chance's face, slide downwards until they reach his chin and tilt his head up. He obliges out of politeness, dry amusement making the corners of his lips quirk upwards at the corners in a slight smile.

"Yes?" he asks, and Asher's pale eyes trace over his features.

"You are happy," the demon observes, and Chance blinks at them and then relaxes, his smile widening.

"Yes," he says. "Yes, I'm happy."

He spends another hour in the lab observing Asher and then returns him to his proper form, the demon drifting pleasantly through his mind. Chance heads back to his room and sits at his desk to sort through his files - though instead of sticking the drawings in his desk, like he normally does, he reaches instead for one of the frames that he got from Ikea. He fits one of Asher's portraits inside and leans it against the wall behind his desk - one of the first truly personal things in the room.

You are happy, is what Asher has said, and it's true. He's happy, and it's a new, strange feeling for him.

Chance has always been a drifter through life, has always kept himself separated from most others. He doesn't like drama, doesn't care for many of the things that others have in the past, and he's not sure he ever really understood how to be happy. Satisfaction and complacency does not equal happiness, after all. He's been merely satisfied with life, all right with how things have been going, though he's always seemed to be watching from the outside, rather than be an actual part of it.

Deus has changed that, in many ways. Having friends has been a new and novel concept in and of itself, but having more than that...

Chance leans back in his seat, shuffling through his sketchbook to browse the rest of his drawings. His thoughts, however, have drifted to Otto, and he can't help the smile that spreads across his face, pencil tapping on the desktop, because in spite of it all being new to him, there is nothing at present that makes him happier than Otto.

It's new. It's exciting. It's also a little scary, but it's not the new factor that makes it interesting, it's Otto himself. Chance isn't going to pretend that it's not all unusual for him, but at the same time, there is just something about the two of them that works. Maybe it's because they're so different in certain regards - Otto's heavy emotions are counterbalanced by Chance's much more mild mannered ones, and Chance is entirely capable of waiting out Otto's fits of stubbornness and annoyance without becoming offended or upset in the process. He is patient; Otto is not, but that is another thing that seems to work. Chance is willing to work with him, makes Otto look at him when they talk, doesn't let him run away - but he also lets him figure things out for himself, because he is neither Otto's father, nor his mentor. He is his boyfriend, but there is no quota to fill, no standard to meet.

It is what it is, is what he always tells Otto, and himself, because there is no other definition needed. Chance's mind drifts back to the Twitter conversation; to Rep's vile and hateful comments, Dawson's less-than-supportive favoriting of things, to Maebe's not-so-gentle reminders that Otto is not perfect, has things in his past that he has to answer for, but Chance knows all this already, appreciates Maebe's concern for both of their well-being (but mostly Otto's, because he knows how much he means to her). The fact that he is not the first in a line of significant others for Otto Graves does not bother Chance, but he knows how it must look to others, to outsiders not privy to the inner workings of Otto's mind and heart. He's seen first hand just how much it hurts Otto to know that there are those that think badly of him for what he's done, has seen the weight of all of his past mistakes buried within him - but really, it's no one's business except their own what Otto does, who he chooses to be with.

He also knows how it must look that he, Chance, has a boyfriend, of all things. He, the one who says he's lacking in certain emotions, but in spite of that, he of all people can tell how it feels to change. People do not stagnate unless they refuse to change, and Chance has never refused change, only misunderstood it until now. He can feel himself shifting, can feel the emotions deepening with each minute spent in Otto's presence, and he likes it, likes being with him, likes listening to him talk, likes kissing him, likes just seeing his face. There is not a terrible, drowning urge to always be near one another - the space is still there, and it's nice - but at the same time, Chance can understand how it feels to miss someone. And it's not about having to be a certain way with Otto, it's that he wants to be with him. There are no illusions - Chance understands very well that things are not always rosy colored, and he's never been one to sugarcoat things, honesty and acceptance at the forefront of his mind. He is under no doubts that there will be rough times intermingled with the good times, and he is not there to take away Otto's pain, but to help him through it as best he can.

(He's got his own issues, buried so deep he's almost forgotten they exist, sheltered away inside a part of him that doesn't see the light of day, because Chance has never really confronted any of them, has never sought out closure or restitution. He's lived with what's happened to him for his entire life, he doesn't know how to bring it up now, tone as light and mild as ever, like he's talking about the weather. Chance is aware of how his life has been until now, but the effects of that life are deeper than he thinks, and maybe that's why he's had such a hard time connecting with people, maybe that's why he's felt strangely separated from everyone until now. He's reminded yet again of Claude telling him that he's been substituting something insubstantial - like his obsession with the stars - for actual human relationships, and perhaps he was wrong to tell her that she was wrong. Maybe there was some truth to that after all. Deus is changing him, little by little, opening up parts of him he's long thought gone.)

But it doesn't change the fact that he feels safe with Otto, warm and comfortable and a dozen other things that make his chest feel pleasantly light, things that no one else has made him feel. People are capable of helping others to change, he knows this; it's just a matter of being willing to change in the first place.

Chance, to put it simply, loves what he has with Otto, and he's not about to let it go anytime soon.