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Chalcanthite had kept still and quiet as his fiance had brought him nearer to not only Queen Laurelite but one of the royals who was very much an enemy of the Negaverse. The only saving grace was the fact that the time spent that close to such a dangerous enemy was cut short by everyone being pulled back to the city. Though that did nothing to ease the growing panic in his chest over the implication that any of them might know that he and Melpomene were connected and the fact that that might make his well meaning and far too trusting fiance a target.

He stayed quiet even as they questioned him, his hands gripping the fabric of their uniform tightly as he tried to go over all the people who might have seen him being carried or the moment his fiance had kissed him. It was a dizzying thought with all the uncertainty he had without being able to see at the time. Hearing Desiree close, talking about the mauvian she was carrying that was still unconscious, he tried not to stress more even as he felt that tightness in his chest that made it hard to breathe.

Wincing at the feeling of cool water as they traversed the mirrors, he clung a bit more until they made it home. The fabric he’d been clinging to disappeared, replaced with the shirt they’d been wearing before everything had started earlier this evening. Grabbing back on, his knuckles white from the tension and worry, he didn’t even notice his cheeks were wet or the small sobs that were passing his lips, something that could be noticed by the others now that they were home where it was quiet enough to hear.

It took him more than a moment to respond, then even longer to let his uniform fade. “Bath,” he whispered quietly between hitched breaths. He knew it must be hard for them to carry him but he didn’t think he could stand to climb the stairs right now, that feeling of static still prickled over his skin and a sharp pain was very apparent on his back with his civilian clothes pulled tighter against it with all the layers he wore. He didn’t want to know, didn’t want to see what marks might be new on his skin, so he kept his eyes closed, even if he knew they weren’t doing him any good right now.

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Desiree kept close, carrying the blue mauvian she now knew was called Xyla. They were still unconscious and had been since shortly after they reappeared. They weren’t in any condition to be left alone right now, so Desiree had made the decision to bring them to the manor to rest in her room, far removed from the other two, which would hopefully help ease any worries.

Keeping hold of the back of Melpomene’s uniform as they all went through the mirror, she focused on the long-haired general who was still being carried. The stress on his face and in his body worried her, but she knew not to bring it up before they were in the privacy of the manor.

Though once they were there, and she heard the sounds coming from the man, she made her leave to set Xyla up in her room to rest. Looking back over her shoulder, she knew what made the man worry, but she couldn’t exactly scold Liam for what he had done. The things that made the blonde who he was and how he had handled things were just part of that, just like she couldn’t tell Aloysius to stop working or stop worrying.

With a sigh she just hoped things would be alright for the pair, she didn’t want to see a repeat of what happened with that mission in the house with the kidnapped corrupt senshi.

With everything they said, it all sounded so normal compared to the things his mind kept spiraling over; he nodded when he could, even as he tried to keep quieter. A bath would help both of them, but even if the fire might be nice, he wanted that little bit of added security of being up in their room, farther from the front door in case anyone might have followed them home. It wasn’t likely, but all the building stress of the past months, on top of the fact that he couldn’t see which would make it harder to do anything to stop someone from hurting either Liam or Desiree, had hit a nerve.

“Our room, with the door locked…” Keeping his voice low, he blinked and tried to look up at them as they tried to kiss away the tears rolling down his cheeks. He knew they’d seen him worse off, but it had been a long time since he’d felt like the stress was making him fall apart. At least as they set him down, he could see vague changes in the darkness he saw, almost as if he could see dim shapes peeking through. It wasn’t great, far from it, but at least it meant whatever had happened might not be permanent or at least as debilitating as he’d initially thought.

The smell that seemed to drift up with the steam was familiar, a blend of lavender, chamomile, and sage that he knew Liam had used to hopefully ease the tension they’d noticed while carrying him. Leaning his head forward, he slowly worked his tie free and started with the layers of buttons on his vest and shirt. Even without seeing, it was something he was used to doing in the dark or while inebriated. The practiced motions, more than muscle memory at this point, helped ground him slightly as he let the layers of fabric slide to the floor in front of him.

He could feel something in his back, between his shoulder blades down to his hip, part of him wondering if it crossed over the scars on his back that were already there, where he had less feeling. It throbed and as he tried to move his shoulders to feel it out, it pulled a choked off gasp from him as he felt a spark of pain.

With his hand on the nearby wall, he stood slowly and worked on the rest of his clothes as he listened to Liam talk about tea and the rest of the evening. He wanted things to be okay, for their lack of worry to be the right way to go about it, but he couldn’t not worry about the peace he felt with them and if something might take that away, like every other time before. Using the wall as he stepped forward, he managed to get his braid loose before looking towards the vague splotch of slightly lighter grey that he figured might be Liam.

“Tea, please, but no dinner, I doubt I can eat…” His appetite had vanished when the stress peaked, as it always had, on top of the fact that he didn’t want anyone he didn’t know directly approaching their home right now. With the power out in most of the city, he also figured a lot of things would be closed anyway.

The abrupt touch did startle him slightly for a split second since he hadn’t exactly been able to tell that they were so close. It did ease up as he heard the concern in their voice and felt them pull him in closer. He felt that pain again as their hands brushed over his back slightly. “Something on my back. Not sure, but when I moved my shoulders, it agitated it.” It didn’t feel cold or wet, something that the other would have noticed if he was bleeding. So he wasn’t exactly sure, though he was certain they would find out and tell him shortly, even if he didn’t want to know what new marks he might have from the fight they’d been in.

It would be so easy to lie, to just agree with what they said, it made sense, much more than what was actually worrying him. At least when it came to the different ways they thought about things. Reaching for their left hand, where the wedding ring he put on them remained, he leaned into them a bit. “I worry that with the threat over, someone who saw you carrying me might connect the dots and get ideas.” Leaving things vague since he only knew of a few of the signatures he’d felt near Laurelite. Time had taught him his worries on that line of thinking had been more than warranted, even if Liam was more worried about the personal bubble of this home and their small little group. It wasn’t quite a family, at least from what he knew of family, but it was something he could agree about wanting to keep safe.

As they eased him into the water, he hissed between clenched teeth at everything that touched his back. It took a moment for him to get his breath out, feeling like the water had been acid against his skin. Even as he settled back into them, he was far from still from the discomfort, but he tried not to move too much to disturb the water or hurt himself. It felt like static was racing over his skin, even beneath the water, and it was uncomfortable.

“She has the skeleton key if she truly needs us… though she has that other mauvian to watch over tonight.” Answering only part of the question at first, as he reached for their hand again, so their rings were nearby. He couldn’t see them, but he still felt that sensation of them being close to each other, something he hadn’t gotten to test out in the field when he was making them. Squeezing their hand, he sighed with the weight that was on his mind. “I just want a little extra security, at least for tonight. Locked doors, no visitors, and hopefully no surprises…” Trailing off as he leaned his head back onto their shoulder so he could press his cheek to theirs, Aloysius tried to relax with little success.

“I know, but… I would prefer to not have that risk added. Especially considering one of the people who saw us has very strong opinions on the Negaverse and kidnapping loved ones.” He knew about it, at least in part, from reports and from knowing some of the people who were involved loosely. It also didn’t sit right still that order had organized enough to capture one of their corrupts as well.

“It… was far from pleasant, but I came back from whatever that was, and now we are home.” He didn’t want to linger on that time he was separated from them, and he guessed from what they were saying was his body as well. Leaning into the kiss, he exhaled slowly after to try to relax a tiny bit. It wasn’t easy, but at least with the scented steam and Liam here, it felt okay enough in this moment. At this point, he was sure they wouldn’t leave; if anything, it would have happened in the beginning when he was in such a bad state. But that didn’t mean something might happen, as it had almost happened before, which had them moving out here further from the city.

“Just… please, please be more careful. Be more aware of who and where.” Turning slightly in their arms to get a bit more comfortable, he wasn’t sure how he felt about their description of his back, but at the same time, he couldn’t see it himself. Though the topic of a tattoo felt odd, almost improper, given his upbringing. “We can try that, but after it stops aching, it feels like static almost.” Which in itself was odd, but after all the dark lightning during the battle, he couldn’t exactly be sure if the scar was as it appeared because of that thing’s magic.

With Liam’s acceptance of his want for security, he finally felt the tension snap, and he sagged into them. It would help, even if it was just a wooden door and an iron lock, just the fact that he could have that small reassurance had him worrying a little less. The other might think it silly, but he’d always felt better with those little barriers in place. “Yes, make sure she is alright and that Evans of hers, Gerard, I believe? Knowing Alexandre… the whole lot of them were in a riskier position against that thing. I just hope Lorcan was smart enough to keep out of the center of things.” He had warmed up to the doctor, especially with how discreet and patient they were when it came to his appointments and physicals. Something he was sure he might have to contact them about if his eyesight didn’t improve or the pain in his back lingered.

Feeling the ring on their finger again, he held their hand up for them to see, even if he couldn’t. “I hope that you like the rings, I made them using my mineral and your crystal that we found together in mirrorspace.” He’d worked on them for a while, making sure they would be perfect for when their wedding day came. “I know it was early, but you can understand why I worried and wanted you to have it, just in case something happened.” Not that he had thought it would happen to him, that had been a shock, though he didn’t feel as bad off as he had from much less world-endingly large run-ins.

With things sorted in regards to his fiance handling the checking in, he reached up with his ringed hand and thumbed their cheek lightly. “You know I am careful but I will do what I can so you can avoid becoming a widower. You know how much I need you to be safe.” Something he never felt he could put enough emphasis on.

“I do have the box still in my office to put them both back in for the wedding, but we can wear them for now. I would prefer that darling, it may take time to get used to but they do help us feel the other nearby even if we are out as civilians.” Something he felt now with them close, which did help ease his worries even if he couldn’t exactly see. As he blinked to look up at them, everything was still fuzzy and dark but he could make out the vague shape of the other slightly better than he had a little while earlier.

It was better than nothing, at least it meant whatever had happened didn’t seem permanent. Resting his head back on their shoulder again, he closed his eyes to enjoy the warmth and quiet with them for now. It was long overdue after the past month of running around and being stretched thin between both his civilian and powered sides of work. With tomorrow being a Sunday, he didn’t have to worry about the university at least and it would be understandable if he wasn’t able to write reports for the Negaverse given his eyesight was compromised.

Hearing how much they cared and that added little bit about him not being allowed to fall apart left Aloysius feeling less worried than he had been on the field when they’d carried him near so many enemies. Moving slightly to press another kiss to their lips, he let it linger for a little longer before settling back down. “I am glad you understand then, you and Des are everything to me after everyone else I lost. That royal was involved directly when it came to the last person I lost.” Letting it sink in that there was a reason for his worry without going into details of the betrayal and execution that had happened, something he didn’t want to revisit. It would have been worse not to know, but he had learned about what had happened from Benitoite a few years back and it had stuck with him.

“I should be fine with Monday off, though with finals in two weeks for the students it might be a bit tricky if people need to come in for grade reviews. Maybe I can add a few extra credit questions at the end to make up for it.” There was time to fiddle with one or two small additions to the exams, as long as he submitted it to the department to keep a record. “We can think on by tomorrow evening, things might improve, I can already see some shades of shadows which is a relief. If the worst that happens is that I need a new prescription for my contacts and lenses, I think that would be acceptable considering the scare it put you through.” And he never wanted them to fall apart either, he needed them to keep strong for when he had those bad moments or when he stretched himself to thin.

“With how this city is, I thought it might help ease each of our worries.” Though it was more for himself as they had guessed. He wouldn’t outright agree that it was very him but he couldn’t deny that it was more to ease his own stress by giving just that little bit extra of pinpoint accuracy when trying to get to each other in an emergency.

While he still didn’t like it, he couldn’t blame them. If the roles had been reversed he would have brought his fiance to Remarque since the prince already knew about them being together. While he knew his queen was strong nad reliable, even before this fight, he wanted to keep what secrets he could about his connections in case anything he did in his research drew suspicion that might lead to Liam being used as leverage potentially. While most things were less cruel nowadays, he couldn’t forget how very different things were in the past and how some other agents and corrupts still worked with that older mindset.

Leaning into their touch as his hair was ruffle, the reassurances were good to hear even if they still couldn’t plan for the unexpected. It was something that was difficult not to fret over and always ate at him but Liam always spoke with that assuredness as if the unexpected didn’t matter as much. “Okay darling, I trust you.”

Letting them loosen his braid, he shifted slightly so they could work through it easier. “Thank you, we can get that email sent out tonight so there will be time to get things adjusted.” Relaxing a bit more as they ran their hands through his hair, he was more than alright with letting them manage his hair.

“Willful ignorance? Or more likely people have lives they have built here and that outways the occasional oddity. You know that at least, given how we made this place a much more comfortable home than it was when we started here.” The fact that he was living here, and comfortably at that, when this manor had been a place full of such horrible experiences for him, was proof of how far things had come.