- Knowing where the camera range reached was useful, because when Sessrumnir followed Alastor out into the hall, he reached to take hold of his arm and tugged him to the side, out of sight of the others who were waiting for him to return to the safety of the room with the monitors.
He didn’t waste time. He reached out to pull Alastor into a tight hug.
They’d talked about this. They’d planned. They’d worked on ways to make this go as smoothly as possible. And while the necklace Sessrumnir wore seemed calm enough, he needed some reassurances for his own heart.
Eternal Sailor Alastor
- The moment Alastor had stepped foot into the hallway, he seemed like he’d been ready to move, and he’d made it a few steps before Sessrumnir caught up with him. He bristled when he felt the pressure on his arm, but it didn’t alarm him. It hadn’t been a hostile touch, and maybe he’d even realized it was Sessrumnir before he’d seen him.
They were still close enough to the Mauvians that he wasn’t worried about the Knight’s energy signature alerting anyone, but he was still surprised by the response.
He returned the hug immediately. “Is everything okay?”
It occurred to him briefly that he didn’t know what effect seeing Alastor like this might have; he didn’t know if he had memories at war in his mind, or if the Chaos was overwhelming. Alsator was used to it, but that didn’t mean that it was comfortable.
Sessrumnir, Knight of Jupiter
- “Yeah, everything’s fine. Just wanted to see you off,” Sessrumnir explained, still holding onto him for a few moments longer before he pulled back. His hands went to Alastor’s shoulders and he leaned up to press a kiss to his forehead, just above the tiara there.
“You’ll be okay,” he said, wanting to reassure him. Maybe he was worrying too much, but he couldn’t just let Alastor walk into whatever was waiting for him without one more chance to --
What…? He couldn’t exactly say anything now. He didn’t want to break Alastor’s concentration.
So instead, he reached down so he could wiggle the signet ring off his right hand.
“Take this,” he insisted, reaching for Alastor’s hand so he could force it into his palm if necessary. “Give it back when you return. Just… in case you need something grounding.”
Eternal Sailor Alastor
- Alastor didn’t immediately understand what Sessrumnir was pushing into his hand, but as soon as he recognized it, he tried to resist it. “I can’t take this from you,” he insisted, but Sessrumnir kept pushing it and Alastor could only protest for so long.
“What if you need to send a message?”
He was in a room with other Knights, and Senshi, and all of them could reach Alastor. If he needed to tell Sessrumnir anything, he could contact any one of them to pass the message along.
Alastor didn’t need an answer. He looked at the ring in his palm, and then back up to the Knight. “I’m going to be okay,” he assured. “You are, too. Everyone is. I’m not going to stray from the plan. Are you okay? Really.”
He planted his free hand on Sessrumnir’s shoulder and squeezed briefly, but that didn’t seem reassuring enough so he cupped his cheek quickly. “Don’t just tell me what you think I want to hear.”
Sessrumnir, Knight of Jupiter
- Sessrumnir drew in a breath and let it out slowly as he leaned into the touch to his cheek. How was he supposed to explain how he felt when they had so little time? This was not a good time, so Sessrumnir kept his mouth shut around some words, but let himself express others.
“I’m worried that we’re overlooking something. So far it’s seemed too easy. Even if you can convince the Chaos to go with you to the Core… I don’t know, there are a lot of things that could go wrong. I’ll be paying attention so…” he said, lifting his hand to touch the necklace underneath his tunic.
“Just be careful. You’re not good at being careful -- I trust you’re going to be okay. And I’m proud of how far you’ve come. I just… want you to come back to me.”
He paused for a moment after the words came out. He meant to say us. To come back to us, but the slip was already out. And Alastor probably knew, already.
Eternal Sailor Alastor
- Alastor’s eyes darted to the shape of the necklace beneath Sessrumnir’s tunic, and then back to his face.
“Well, don’t tell anyone else that I’m not good at being careful. I don’t want them to worry any more than they already are. I’ll try my hardest, though. If something goes wrong, you’ve got Princess. You’ll be faster than any of them, you can come get me. I know you’ve got my back. And I know this is,” he shrugged and looked around, like there was an answer waiting to be plucked from the air.
“I know this is a lot. This isn’t how I wanted to introduce you to Alastor. But it’ll be better soon. I hope you get to see it how it really is.” How it was supposed to be, at least. How it was in his memory.
“If we’re overlooking something, we’ll catch it. We’ve got time. If I have to pick it up and carry it there myself, at the very least know that my strength lies in brute force. But I promise, I’ll be back. In one piece, too. You just take care of the boys for right now, make sure they don’t get too worked. And don’t let yourself worry too much. This is the easy part. The Chaos has been trying to get into the Core of my world for as long as it's been here, I don’t think it’ll resist the chance. Especially if it thinks I’m weak.”
Sessrumnir, Knight of Jupiter
- “I wouldn’t dream of it,” he agreed with a quiet sigh. The others didn’t need to know that Alastor wasn’t the most careful when it came to his own safety. But he didn’t want to worry anyone else, or make them think maybe they couldn’t trust Alastor when they absolutely should.
“Maybe I’m worried that we’re expecting it to think you’re weak when it doesn’t. Just… don’t underestimate it,” he warned, but there was undeniable concern in his voice. “I’ll keep an eye on everyone else. And yeah, Princess will be there in a flash if you need her,” he said with a small nod.
“I’ll see you when you get back, okay?”
Eternal Sailor Alastor
- Alastor smiled again, and if he thought he’d have been able to pry himself away a second time, he’d have leaned in for another hug. “I won’t keep you waiting long, Michael.”
There wasn’t much more to say. He could have stood there and promised not to underestimate it, promised to be careful, promised to be safe. Sessrumnir already knew those things. Alastor was already committed to them.
As they stood there, he rolled the Signet Ring in his palm, gently moving it with his thumb. It was still warm from Sessrumnir’s hand, and the weight was comfortable. He’d felt it before; the ring wasn’t entirely new to him.
It was a part of Michael. Of Percy. Of Sessrumnir itself. It was a piece of home in a way he couldn’t explain.
Alastor smiled softly and shook his head. “Thank you for this. I’ll take good care of it. You’ll have it back soon.”
Sessrumnir, Knight of Jupiter
- Sessrumnir nodded, and tried not to sigh again. He kept his hands to himself, although there was a very obvious indent on his finger where his ring was missing. It was probably very obvious that he rarely, if ever, took the signet ring off.
“I know,” he said, and took one last chance to look Alastor over before heading back into the surveillance room. All he could do was trust Alastor to be able to handle things.
And if he couldn’t, Sessrumnir would just have to help him.
