“Oh, Perce. You would love Michael.”

It was a sunny day on Alastor, but the weather had been fair for a while now. Devyn couldn't remember the last time he’d seen rain. Not that the planet needed anything; things seemed like they were doing well enough. It was a nice, healthy spring already. The plants were in bloom.

The animals were keeping busy.

He saw a rabbit in the forest on his way back from Arista on his last trip here, and today he’d seen birds in the sky. The goats were down the road and, even without guidance, had done a good job keeping the grass short. It looked healthier now than it had in years.

There were butterflies in the garden, and little bees, and probably so much more than he just hadn't seen yet.

When he'd arrived, he'd stayed powered up for a bit and done his rounds. Now, he'd powered down--a quick solution to making sure he wasn't tracking mud up to the tree.

He was leaning against the great old oak tree, and its beautiful golden leaves sparkled beneath the sunlight. He had plenty of shade from where he sat. He had no blanket, but he’d brought a picnic basket with him, and a few things to share with Percy.

A book of poetry was next to him, and he spoke between bites of his sandwich.

“Is that a strange thing to say? I don’t know.” He shrugged, but there was no audience. “I think you’d have gotten along well, though. I think you two would have liked discussing literature. I think you’d have liked his classes. And I think he’d have liked yours. Well, no.” Another bite, as he did between every few thoughts. He’d been talking for about half an hour now but he’d packed a large lunch. “I know it, for a fact. For the both of you. I don’t see you in him, it isn’t like that. But you two have so much in common, sometimes.”

Michael was his own self, separate from Percy in every way. Devyn never looked for Percy in him, but after all those years without Percy, of course he took solace in the known and familiar.

Devyn had fallen in love again. It didn’t seem like it should have been possible. A thousand years or more would never be enough to get over Percy. But, Michael knew that. Michael humored him. Smiled, even, when he talked about Percy.

New memories did not replace the old. He could tell Michael all the stories about Percy.

And, he could tell Percy all the stories about Michael.

“But, he’s good to me. I still miss you. In case you were wondering. I know you weren’t. But I like to say it, sometimes, just in case.”

The sandwich was gone, and it was for the best. He tilted his head back so he could look up into the tree. He couldn’t tell what was the sun and what was the reflection on the leaves, but it was pretty all the same.

“I still don’t think it’s fair that I’ve gone and fallen in love again. Or maybe today’s just one of those days. It’s just a mood, I think. I don’t regret it. I just hope it’s fair. I know it’s what you’d have wanted. It’s what I would have wanted for you, too. And I do, I love him so much. Not more than you. But not less, either.”

The breeze carried the smell of flowers, so he absently looked toward the bouquet he’d picked for Percy. He’d picked it from the garden. Percy’s favorites were growing in again, and though the tree was probably large enough to see the garden, he thought that if Percy were here he might have liked to smell them, too. He reached for the bundle of flowers and drew them to his nose.

Maybe it was silly, that he could hear Percy’s laughter on the wind. He could remember the shape of the clouds as they looked up and watched them float overhead. Or–no, he couldn’t. But that wasn’t the important part of the memory, anyway.

But then, Percy was a part of his world as much as he was.

Buried, beneath this tree–this acorn that he’d planted, taken from Sessrumnir itself, that had grown with roots so powerful and deep that they’d stretched right down to cradle the Core of his world.

What a Percy thing to do. Still looking after him and his world, even now.

Devyn laughed at the thought.

Little orbs of light–pure energy, dancing from within his Core and fading as they absorbed back into the air–bobbed around him. One brushed against his cheek as it rose from a vein in the tree, and Devyn couldn’t help but laugh at that, too.

It was warm, and sweet, and he liked to fancy it a little kiss.

The glowing lights weren’t uncommon, not since they’d freed his world from Chaos. He’d run into plenty of them before. But still, it was nice.

“I wish I could put it all into words. Sometimes it feels like if I could just find the right ones I wouldn’t have this muck in my mind. I don’t care what anyone else thinks. Well, for the most part. You know everyone who matters.” He’d talked extensively about everyone he’d met on Earth. “I don’t expect anyone to understand. I don’t blame them if they don’t. Sometimes I feel old, Perce. Usually if I don’t come up here and spend some time talking with you. You’re a very good listener.”

He smiled again, because he wasn't sad. He missed Percy, but that wasn’t new. It was a familiar ache, and a hole that would never heal. He had a great life on Earth. He had wonderful people in his life. Alastor was looking alive again.

He hadn’t found anyone else here, yet, but he wasn’t giving up hope.

“Sometimes I feel young again. Michael makes me feel like I can make up for all those years I spent after I lost you. Oh, but not too young. I can’t be a bad influence on the boys. Who you would also love. Atticus would have been the perfect son for you. No shame to Marius. But he was so headstrong and independent. He’s warming up to Michael quite a bit. And you should see the way he looks at Elliot. He pines like you did. It’s sweet, maybe they’ll let me convince them to have their wedding up here so you can see. No, I’m kidding.”

He set the bouquet down in his lap and reached for his drink. “Well, maybe a ceremony or two. It would be beautiful, right up on this hill. I want to bring the boys here. I’ve been showing Atticus some of your sketchbooks. Oh, and the gallery. I’ve been dragging my feet, I’m sorry. We had to change the venue, and then more space opened up, and–well, you can’t rush perfection. I chose some of my favorites, though. And Claire’s been wonderful. I should ask her if she can make me some lasagna to bring up here. No, she’s worth much more than that. But she is an excellent cook. And I think I’m just hungry.”

An apple, then, but the first few bites kept him quiet. He looked at the Hall in front of him, and for a moment let himself be proud of the repairs. The roof had been repaired, and he’d finally gotten to do some of the repairs he’d had to put off during the storm. The hole in the wall was fixed. The gate was open, but there didn’t seem to be any threat these days.

There were projects inside to work on, but Arista was his next big effort, especially now that he’d cleared out the fallen logs and there was a path to the city just down the road.

The Hall looked just as he remembered it, but Arista was a shadow of itself. The buildings looked structurally safe for the most part, but it was going to need a lot of cleaning up. The river was tame, though, and the dam was probably safe.

“Do you know, with all that work you and Atrius did–Arista still hasn’t flooded? I don’t know what you did, Perce, but you were always working miracles. My last visit, I specifically checked, there’s no flood damage. I only went into one house, I had to break the lock. It was dusty, I don’t think anyone’s been in there for–” He caught himself and took a bite of the apple before continuing “–a while. Books on shelves, perfectly legible. Not a smudged page, even on the lowest shelf. And the dam? I didn’t go too close to the water this time, I can’t really see what’s underneath it so I played it safe. But I couldn’t find a single crack on it. Your design–and all those reinforcements? Flawless. You should be proud. I’m proud, I bragged to Michael and Soleiyu about it.”

In the distance, he could see a speck in the sky. It had been there for a little over an hour now and had only moved a few inches across the horizon. It was moving away from him, but he didn’t need to be close to it to know what it was; he’d been dreaming about the floating island in the sky for most of his life. No one knew what was up there–or, if they ever had, the records had been lost to time.

“It’s too bad we didn’t make it up there. It’s on my list to visit. I can’t believe it’s still up there. Now, it’s just taunting me. It knows it’s always been in the back of my mind. I’ll tell you what I find when I get a chance. Now that the Hall’s mostly set up, I think I’ve taken care of the most pressing things. It could use some upgrades, but. Oh, I want to go up there so badly. I’m not feeling very patient.”

Although, if he’d managed a thousand years, he suppose a little more time wouldn’t hurt. It had to be something special if it had endured all those years of storms.

Just like this tree.

“When I finish eating, I wanted to read you some of this poetry. Michael recommended it. Oh, and I brought some of Atticus’ sketches. I think he’s making you something, I said we could hang it on one of the branches. I’m going to have them all up here soon, so we’ll stop by. When summer comes, the boys will be out of school and Michael won’t have to work, so I’d like to spend a few days up here. I hope you’re not too lonely.” Although, he had needed to chase away some of the goats from up here when he’d first arrived.

Thankfully, they were at least respectful. He couldn’t blame them for wanting to nap under the tree, not when he felt like he could have closed his eyes and dozed for a bit. Usually he felt refreshed–and it wasn’t that things felt different today, it was just that he suddenly felt very peaceful, too.

Like all the tension that had worked his way through him relaxed. The itching, burning fire in his veins, the drive to work, constantly, the need to run everywhere had–at least temporarily–abated.

Talking with Percy always relaxed him, though.

“Sessrumnir’s doing well, too. Princess, also. As beautiful and magnificent as always. I think I’ve run out of stories to tell her about you, but she lets me repeat myself. I hope we can find a way to let her visit here, even if just for a bit. Longer than a minute or so would be ideal. But, we’ll figure it out. Michael’s been getting things cleaned up. He said we could explore the caves sometime. It’s probably less dangerous now than it used to be. Maybe we’ll go visit Valhalla, too. Chris is nice, though I don’t think it would be as fun as surprising your brother. You know, I haven’t badgered him for a tour, yet. Or Ganymede, either.”

He hummed contemplatively, but there wasn’t much to think about. Usually he felt rushed, and driven to do everything at once. Today he felt calm. He had plenty of time.

Michael and the boys were still at school for a few more hours, and he’d be back home with dinner ready before then. He should get back to work and get something done around here but it was too easy to just lean into the tree.

No, a nap sounded just fine. He’d make up for it on the next trip. There were always going to be more. Although, at some point his internal voice had been replaced by Percy’s, and he couldn’t help but laugh. He could hear Michael’s exasperated sighs too if he listened loudly enough.

It brought another smile to his face.

He wiped his hands off on the little towel he’d brought, keen to return Michael’s book in exactly the condition he’d left it in.

“Well, let me read you some of this, at least. I brought it out here for a reason. Just a few, for as long as I can keep my eyes open. If you’re feeling inspired, you should give me a good dream so I can pick something out to take back to Michael, too. I’m almost done translating the last book of poetry I brought. He doesn’t know it yet. I wanted to surprise him with something special. I still have to touch it up and make it read a little nicer, but that’s fine. This is good inspiration.” He tapped his fingers on the cover of the book before he opened it to the mark he’d placed inside earlier.

“I’ll try to keep my eyes open for as long as I can, Perce. But if I fall asleep, I’ll just come back and finish this book later. I’m not going to abandon you.”

But then, Percy would have already known that. He didn’t have to say it.

His heart was at home here, as much as it was with Michael. He was glad for the time he had with Percy now, but he was just as glad to know that when he packed up here he’d be going home to Michael.

And, he’d cook them something nice, and he’d ask about Michael’s day, and Atticus’, and he’d probably sleep just as well tonight as he would while napping against the tree.

It was a good life. Devyn was happy.

He made it through six poems before he dozed off in the middle of the seventh, and for the first time in a long time, he dreamed. It was warm, and peaceful, and safe. Too short, but long enough to leave its mark. The dream stayed with him for only a moment before it faded from his mind to his heart.

When he awoke, he couldn’t remember whose arms had been around him.

But, he knew he was loved.