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 Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2022 2:04 pm
“If you’re having fun, then you should do it,” Michael insisted, even if he was concerned about Devyn getting hurt. “It might be a good idea, anyway. At least you’ll get a chance to practice in a relatively safe environment. Although you should still be careful there. I don’t know how the Negaverse recruits people. They could be looking for strong fighters for all we know.”
If they were smart they would look for strong fighters. Most of the Negaverse he’d dealt with were mostly easily manipulable kids. Some were just evil and needed to be sent back to the cauldron. Preferably before they were given more power.
“I know you’re being careful,” he said after a few moments, even as he frowned at the idea of the split lip and bruise being similar to a papercut. “Does Alastor have razor sharp pieces of paper? I’ll have to remind myself to stay away from your books then,” he huffed as he poked at his salad, but was also trying not to smile. He knew Devyn was exaggerating, but still.
As for being reckless…
“Being seen as reckless is sometimes better than the alternative,” he hummed, although he didn’t meet Devyn’s eye as he spoke. “Even if others aren’t watching you… sometimes if you’re not reckless, there are others who get put in danger. Sometimes it’s worth the gamble of being hurt if you can help someone else.”
Being hurt was Michael’s exaggeration. But he liked to think that he’d toned down his own recklessness once Peter moved in with him. Once he’d made friends at work and had someone looking up to him. People he could protect if he put a little more value on his own life.
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Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2022 2:16 pm
Devyn hummed thoughtfully; he moved the ice to a different part of his lip as he listened. “That’s true. Plus, I know my own limits. I’m pretty durable. I don’t know that someone else is going to be able to handle something I can handle.” He shrugged, “I’d rather get hurt than someone else. I’ll heal.”
It was just a fact, like something he didn’t really even have to think about.
He was built for combat, and if he’d survived for this long, obviously he was durable enough to take a few extra hits here and there.
“But, I’ll call you if I know I’m heading over there. That way you don’t have to–oh, the necklace,” he paused, and only just now seemed to realize what it must have been doing this whole time. He seemed briefly apologetic, but mostly committed to making sure Michael didn’t have to worry about what he was doing so late–oh, after the sun had gone down, too. He might have worried that he’d gotten into trouble.
It was an easy fix, he thought. “I’ll call you before I go do anything that’ll get me too worked up. That way you don’t have to wonder what I’m getting into. I have to study more so I can send you messages, too. I’ll work on that some tomorrow. I didn’t practice much at all today.”
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Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2022 2:34 pm
Michael had felt the changes in the necklace throughout the day. He was hoping it was just Devyn exercising and not in trouble. He felt like he was cheating with the necklace sometimes, but Devyn didn’t seem to mind. He’d wanted him to wear it.
“I can teach you how to use the voice-to-text option. That way you can just say your message. And it can read any messages you get from me out loud,” he explained, because trying to make things as easy as possible for Devyn was important. He just hoped he wasn’t sounding condescending with his suggestions or offers to help.
“You don’t have to study every day. I know you don’t like standing still. Maybe I’ll get a treadmill for you to run on and study at the same time. It’s not the same as going outside, though. But better than running in a storm, probably,” he mused to himself.
He had equipment in the house, and he and Devyn had used it some, but with school getting ready for the end of the year, and trying to find out information about Ganymede while staying clear of the Negaverse’s radar, they hadn’t has as much time as Michael would have liked.
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Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2022 2:42 pm
Devyn always seemed to listen when Michael made a suggestion, and while he was certain that there were people who he’d ignore or be annoyed with, it wasn’t ever Michael. Instead, he always seemed grateful for his suggestions–and even now he nodded agreeably.
Voice to text seemed loosely familiar, he was sure that wasn’t the first time he’d heard the phrase. He’d take shortcuts when he could but he didn’t have any intention of completely shirking his duties. He didn’t want to always have to lean over and ask Michael what something said, and what it meant. Not that he minded, but he didn’t want Michael to mind it.
The treadmill was a far more foreign and unknown option to him, because he knew what treading was, and he knew what a mill was, and his immediate understanding of the phrase was some technology that would grind grain to flour if he walked on it.
But, if Michael wanted fresh flour and to encourage running in the house, okay. He could go along with that.
“Why are you running in a storm? That’s dangerous.” You could slip and fall, or get lost, or catch a cold, or get struck by lightning, or get washed away by a flood. “I’m not that reckless.”
Well.
The better questions, was Michael?
“It comes and goes,” he said, instead of asking. “The restlessness. I think I’ve been high strung for so long that I get jittery and have to do something. I mean, I’ve always had to take a run when I get that way, but I didn’t always have to do it so often. I feel like I’m a teenager again.” A dramatic sigh, emphasized shortly after with a groaning stomach. He ignored it. “But I can be diligent. It’s less pressure knowing that I don’t have to study every day, though. Thank you. It’s easier when I know it’s a choice and not an obligation. But I do want to learn, so that helps, too. Oh, and you being a good teacher, that’s probably the best help.”
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Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2022 4:22 pm
Michael appreciated that Devyn was so attentive when he said pretty much anything. And he knew Devyn told him there was no pressure for him to do anything, or know everything, or all of that, but Michael still wanted to give Devyn the best suggestions possible. After all, what if he didn’t tell Devyn something and it ended up with him getting hurt? Or worse?
“Storms don’t bother me, usually. Sometimes they keep me up at night, but the sound of thunder and rain and wind is what I can recognize. It’s other sounds that I get uncomfortable around,” he said, ignoring the suggestion that he was being reckless, running during a storm. Thankfully, Devyn didn’t ask him about it.
He snorted softly in amusement at the compliment and shook his head. “Most of the credit goes to the student. You’ve been doing a really good job, adjusting to everything. I know it must be difficult to get used to things, so… yeah, I’m proud of you for that,” Michael said, and then nodded to the food in front of Devyn.
“That sound makes me uncomfortable,” he teased, and it was obvious that he was trying very hard not to smile again. “You should eat. We’ve got to bother Soleiyu again sometime soon. Think he’s annoyed about seeing us at least once a week?”
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Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2022 4:33 pm
Devyn laughed, light and amused; he’d never been ashamed of his growling stomach. Well, no. Maybe, when he was a child. But he needed to grow and big and strong back then, and now wasn’t so very different. “I don’t know why it bothers, I know I’m hungry. It doesn’t have to announce it to everyone. I’m more than happy to do it, myself.”
Dinner looked delicious, smelled delicious; it was hard not to just dive in, anyway. He was trying to mind his manners, but at Michael’s insistence he didn’t think he needed to worry about that so much. There was plenty of food, and when everything was plated it was hard to even worry about silverware.
But, he would. Michael worked hard on all of this, he wasn’t going to defile it by being a savage.
He nodded to the table and went to take a seat so he could eat. He left the ice on the side of the table, near enough that he could reach it if he wanted, but out of the way enough that he could eat comfortably.
“I think Soleiyu likes the attention. Anyway, if we annoy him enough, maybe he’ll come up with an idea to solve this problem so he can be rid of us.” Briefly, he put one hand over his chest like he might have been able to understand what was going on with his starseed if he soothed it, but then he knocked on his chest like it was a door he was waiting to be opened.
It did nothing, but that wasn’t really surprising. His starseed was awake, it was alive, just dragging his feet. He had things to do, he needed that power.
His stomach tried to growl again but he took a bite and swallowed just to try and tame the damn thing. “I hope that isn’t really an uncomfortable sound, it just does what it wants.” It probably wasn’t, Michael had never fussed over it before. But he’d mentioned there were sounds that made him uncomfortable, so Devyn looked at him. “What other sounds bother you?”
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Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2022 5:13 pm
Michael had already put butter into the potatoes, but just in case Devyn wanted more, or cheese to mix in, he pushed those options closer to him. After doing it himself so Devyn wasn’t at a complete loss.
“Soleiyu definitely likes the attention,” Michael agreed with a sigh. And yet, if they harassed him too much, he might just stop helping them at all. Maybe. Devyn might be right about him coming up with an idea to solve things, first.
“There’s a bone, so be careful,” he warned, probably needlessly. But he couldn’t help it. It was in his nature to fuss when he cared about someone. And if Devyn was supposed to have his back, then it was important for him to be in the best shape possible, right?
He should have known the question about sounds was coming, and he tried not to be bothered by it too much. There was nothing wrong with Devyn being curious. And Michael was trying to be more open about things. It was difficult at times. Some days he would rather just keep everything to himself.
“No, your stomach is fine,” he promised as he poked some pieces of lettuce onto his fork. “Mostly things that are sudden and loud. I know when thunder is coming if I can see the lightning, and there’s usually a build up as the storm gets closer. Sounds that bother me the most… fireworks. Dogs barking. Car horns. Beeping noises -- I disabled the beeping from the microwave, so don’t be surprised if you use someone else’s,” he warned. “I can ignore large crowds for a time, but after a while it gets overwhelming.”
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Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2022 5:19 pm
Devyn was a quick learner, especially when it came to food. He watched Michael prepare his potatoes, and he mimicked what he saw because obviously Michael had good taste. Devyn could have eaten it without anything, or with everything piled on, but this was a nice, homemade dinner, and he wasn’t going to ruin the flavor with his insatiable appetite.
Besides, a mountain of butter or cheese was probably distracting, and Devyn was focusing on Michael. He nodded when he warned him of the bone and began to carefully cut out around it, just to make sure. He was careful not to let the knife clink too loudly against the plate. That hadn’t been on Michael’s list of things he didn’t like, but he was mindful of it now.
He nodded as he listened, took a bite, chewed. Quietly. Contemplatively.
Of course he wanted to know why. But, sometimes he thought he could see the traces of insecurity or doubt or discomfort on Michael’s face, and he held his tongue. His curiosity wasn’t worth making Michael uncomfortable, and if he could avoid it, he would.
Chewing gave him time to think over his question, so when he swallowed he asked, “When you can’t avoid those noises, or when you get overwhelmed, what helps?”
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Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2022 5:30 pm
He knew he was opening himself up for questions. It was completely fair for Devyn to be curious, or to want to know more. And Michael could tell that Devyn was probably asking because he wanted to help keep him comfortable.
That... was overwhelming. To have someone actively trying to make things easier for him. Without wanting anything in return. Michael had noticed the way Devyn was being careful about cutting his food, and how he seemed to be doing it a bit slower, a bit less noisily. He couldn’t expect anyone to be quiet about cutting their food, and yet, Devyn was trying to do just that.
It had him pausing for a few moments, and he stared across the table at Devyn as if he was trying to really understand who this man really was. Michael’s heart beat noisily in his chest, and after forcing himself to look back down at his plate, he shrugged.
“Your necklace helps,” he admitted, and lifted a hand to touch the orb against his chest. “Before that, I would try to… okay, it sounds silly when I say it out loud, but I would try to think louder than everything else if I couldn’t get away from it. Usually I try to leave a place with noises like that. There are a few holidays that celebrate with fireworks, so I know to wear headphones to help drown out the noise. They’re… like earmuffs, but you can listen to music with them,” he tried to explain, not wanting to confuse Devyn when he was already being so kind and considerate.
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Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2022 5:55 pm
Devyn was halfway through his second bite when Michael mentioned the necklace, and he couldn’t help but smile a little bit because he had really never regretted his decision to let Michael keep it. Really, he didn’t think he ever would. He was glad that it brought him some comfort and had some function, even if he now had to wonder if it distressed Michael any time he could tell that Devyn was worked up about something.
It made sense either way.
“I don’t think it sounds silly. Sounds like you were doing your best with what you had. I don’t know what I would do. I feel like I would want to lose my temper and shout. Push people out of the way. When I was young and overwhelmed, I’d try to drown everything out. I’d be expected to make an appearance in large events. Hated it, I felt like I could feel my heart clawing out of my throat. Couldn’t hear what anyone said, it was like–white. That probably doesn’t make sense. I’d just get this image of a big, white ball of–I don’t know, static? And I’d hear it crackling, or worse, I’d just hear nothing. Could see their mouths moving, but couldn’t understand. And I was only half their height. I used to think about just running under their legs and slipping away.”
But, appearances.
“My skin felt all staticy, too. Like too much electricity just jumping all over me. Running helps, most of the time, but.”
It was different for him than it was for Michael, and he only had bits and pieces of a story from him and Peter. He didn’t want to ask for more information than he was comfortable giving, and he wanted to make sure that Michael understood that Devyn didn’t see any issue in how he handled these things that bothered him.
“Thunder,” he paused, “It doesn’t bother me. Sometimes it feels like a little stab in my ear. But it’s not the noise so much as it is the pressure. I think. And the rain. Even if I couldn’t hear the storm, I can feel it. You’ll tell me if I’m ever too loud, won’t you? I don’t want you to decide it’s better if you don’t say anything. Whenever it does happen,” because, he had no illusions; he knew he’d mess up at some point, “I want to know. So I don’t do it again. And you’ll tell me if you ever need to get out of something? Because I don’t have any problem making it about me if you need an easy out.”
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Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2022 6:14 pm
“You’re very kind,” Michael said after a few more moments of staring across the table at Devyn. “I don’t think anyone has offered that before. Well, I haven’t exactly told anyone I have a problem with noises. It’s easier to get frustrated and deal with it on my own than try to explain why I don’t want to have a dog.”
Things were more complicated than he wanted them to be, and other people didn’t want to deal with the complications. They thought he was put together, charming… he was wealthy, of course, so that was probably appealing as well. But it was mostly an illusion. He could fake being okay, and he usually did. He had before, and he would continue to do so.
But with Devyn, it was easier to let his guard down. And he hoped he wouldn’t regret doing so again.
“Does anything help you? With the pressure? Actually, give me a minute, I just want to check something,” Michael explained as he pulled out his phone from his pocket. He made sure to put a bite of food into his mouth so he could multitask.
“If it makes you feel any better, it sounds like you’re sensitive to barometric pressure, and there are a lot of other people who suffer from it as well,” Michael explained as he scrolled through a few pages of information. “Do you get any headaches? Good news… one of of the ways to help is to make sure you eat enough so your blood sugar doesn’t get too low. Naps, getting plenty of sleep at night, and massages should help. That medicine you took for your pain? That should help too, along with one of the other pills in the cabinet.”
Was that too much? Maybe he was assuming too many things. Devyn was from another world, after all. How was he supposed to just claim he suffered from something people on Earth suffered from?
“What you dealt with as a child, do you still feel that way? It could be overstimulation. That’s how I feel with too much noise. Nothing makes sense any more, and I get irritated easily… I’d offer you a magic orb with my heart beat, but I don’t know where to start with making something like that.”
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Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2022 6:18 pm
Briefly, Devyn wondered why Michael hadn’t told anyone before, but there was a little voice in the back of his head that reminded him rather plainly that everyone had their own appearances to keep up. Maybe he was just a little satisfied that Michael trusted him with the information.
While Michael researched, Devyn busied himself with eating, and he was more than happy to have an excuse to focus on eating while he listened. Nearly half his plate was cleared by the time Michael stopped speaking, so it was probably a good idea to slow down, anyway. “Well, I’d take you to my world and let you make one but I’m not sure it works like that. But if you figure it out, let me know. I’m sure Soleiyu would love another project.”
Probably, he seemed so busy any time Devyn had met him, and with the immediate need to try and figure out how to rescue her out of the way, he wasn’t even sure if Soleiyu was still working on those projects so passionately. Not that a magic orb with a heart beat was necessary or world shattering, but.
Sometimes it was.
“I don’t know if I still feel that way. It’s hard to tell. Everything on Earth is a lot. I’m used to just going with things and adapting. Now when I’m in a large crowd, I’m used to it. I guess I just forced myself to get over it. It helped when I got taller,” he admitted. “I was overwhelmed as a kid. I came from a nice little town. I went to events with more people in a single room than I had in my whole town, so. I don’t know. What was that thing you said, Barometric pressure? Headaches, yeah. Lot of aches. Sometimes in my bones, mostly this one scar on my chest. I’ll have to try that. I’ll start with eating enough,” he took another bite, “And I’ll work on sleeping more. What are you supposed to massage, how does that help?”
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Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2022 6:40 pm
Michael snorted in amusement. He didn’t understand how Devyn’s necklace worked, but he doubted that there could be anything that would compare to it. It was made with part of his Core, wasn’t it? There wasn’t such a thing for Sessrumnir, otherwise he was sure Percy would have already made something similar for Devyn.
“I can find some technology on Earth that might be similar,” he offered, although he doubted it would be anything close to the same thing. But if there was something that could work for Devyn that was grounding, then why not? Most things hadn’t worked for Michael, at least not until he had the necklace.
“You’re supposed to massage your neck and shoulders to help relieve any headache tension,” Michael read from his phone before putting it down so he could cut some of his food into smaller pieces as he spoke. “We’ll have to be careful about taking you to a doctor, but we could always do that. Maybe they’ll have a better suggestion.”
Devyn seemed to have the same physiology as a human, so maybe it would be fine. Hopefully it wouldn’t come to needing a doctor, just to be on the safe side.
“That sounds really rough on a kid. I’m sorry you had to go through that,” Michael said after a few moments, because it did suck that Devyn had to experience getting so overwhelmed so young. “You’ll tell me too, if you get overwhelmed or if the weather bothers you? If I mess anything up, I want to make things better, too.”
Because no matter how careful he was, he would inevitably do something wrong and things would decay between them.
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Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2022 6:52 pm
Devyn’s mouth was full again so he nodded, and between one bite and the next said, “I will. And I won’t do the ‘I need to talk to you about something later’ thing, either. I’ll just say it when it’s a good time. Oh, like right now.”
He lowered his fork just slightly.
“I don’t really get along with doctors. I just don’t like them. They tell me to do all these things and it’s just,” he sighed overzealously. “So much. Eat healthy, rest, take it easy. I don’t like it. Don’t like when they take my blood, don’t like when they stick things in me. Part of that’s the paranoia, you know. Poison was very common back on Alastor. When you can’t beat someone in combat, head on? Just dose them while they’re not expecting it. I had one doctor I trusted, and that’s only because if he wanted to kill me, he could have just scolded me to death.”
He leaned forward a bit, obviously comfortable enough with Michael to lower his guard and relax around him. “I’ll look into massages, I guess. But I’ll let you know if any of it gets too bad. Most things are just annoyances, not really problems. I can brush them off. But if I’m ever actually concerned about something or need help, I’ll come to you first, Michael. Promise.”
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Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2022 7:07 pm
While Devyn was telling him about how much he disliked doctors, Michael took the time to catch up on his plate of food. He didn’t want to be sitting at the table long after Devyn had finished! Not that it was any kind of competition to eat, but…
“Well, that’s good to know. Thank you for telling me,” Michael said, but he didn’t seem upset about it. Instead, he just seemed amused.
“I hate doctors,” he shared. Not getting along with them? No, Michael just hated them. “They have never been useful to me and don’t seem to care when I need them to. I’ll avoid them if I can, so I can’t exactly expect you to see one if you don’t want to. If you get hurt and it’s… mostly basic stuff… I can probably help with that. I was once a field medic, and being a Knight keeps me on my toes when it comes to fixing up injuries.”
It seemed like a lifetime ago, and in many ways it had been a lifetime ago that he’d been trained for that kind of stuff. Now? He was just glad he could stitch a wound if he needed to.
“But,” he added after a moment, and he drew in a breath because even he wasn’t looking forward to what he was going to say. “If something is really bad. For either of us. And the other insists on seeing an actual doctor… would you promise to go, if I promise as well? I hate hospitals,” he added, as though he needed to prove to Devyn that he was serious. “If I can avoid them I can. I don’t like being a patient and I don’t like being a visitor. So it would only be if absolutely necessary.”
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