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 Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2022 11:12 pm
Alastor looked at him contemplatively, but it wasn’t long before a smile drifted back onto his face.
“Oh, Percy nagged me all the time. And he was right to. He did such a good job that now I hear his voice in the back of my head before I do something particularly reckless. It’s saved me more than you know. Maybe if I’ve got the both of you telling me to take it easy, it’ll stick in my mind before I make a bad decision.”
Or, he’d be the same person he’d been for the past thousand years, and just try to be a little better.
“I know you’re you, Michael. I know what the memories are like. It’s been a long time, I haven’t had any in–” He shrugged and shook his head because they didn’t matter. He didn’t want someone else’s memories in his mind, not when he knew who he’d been before this life. “Since I was very, very young. And they scared me back then, that’s part of why I decided I didn’t want to be like him. But if you get Percy’s memories–”
For a moment he was quiet, and then his ears turned a bit pink again. “Well, I think most of them are good. The ones with me are. Maybe you shouldn’t think too hard about them. I was very romantic in my youth. We were young then, it was fine to be tacky. If you remember too much, I won’t be able to properly romance you. I’ll keep it to a minimum on school nights, though.”
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Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2022 6:23 am
It was difficult not to notice the way Alastor’s ears turned red, especially being so close to him. And Sessrumnir had the advantage of having the necklace, so he couldn’t help but be amused by the reaction.
“Oh…? I wouldn’t want to find out all of your secrets and spoil the fun,” he hummed softly, rubbing Alastor’s back before he reached up to carefully tuck his hair behind his red ear. And maybe he let his fingers brush over it and his jaw, before gently cupping his cheek. He lightly swiped his thumb over Alastor’s lips, unable to ignore the way his heart was racing.
He could see the lights from the tree dancing around them, and he smiled when he realized they seemed to hover around him. He didn’t want to say it out loud, but he couldn’t help but wonder if the Core had accepted him. Or maybe it was Percy’s tree.
“I would appreciate you being more careful. I don’t know if I’ll be able to carry you out of every cave we get stuck in,” he sighed, but it was still just a gentle tease.
“Thank you for telling me. About Percy. The Chaos seemed to think that I would care if I died by your hand. I don’t think the real Percy would have ever held that against you. If it was me… yeah, I wouldn’t have wanted you to watch me suffer. I think that would have been worse than the suffering itself.”
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Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2022 6:35 am
Alastor forced another smile, and for all the pain there was in it, he nodded. It was hard not to, with Michael’s gentle touches. He leaned into all of them, partly because he was tired and mostly because he hadn’t realized how badly he’d missed them. He had a lot of years of loneliness to make up for, but he didn’t feel any need to rush through anything. He was content with this.
“I’ll be careful,” he sighed, and there was a familiar, dramatic, undertone. “You’d best stay in shape, just in case.”
He rested against Sessrumnir with a bit more sincerity, and though he loved to see his world like this, he took a moment just to close his eyes and relax. He could feel the warmth of it all, could feel the gentle embrace of his home–alive. Healing.
“I don’t think Percy would have held what I did against me. It’s not like…It isn’t like I wanted to do it. I didn’t want him to go. I just didn’t want him to suffer. If there was any other way…”
He didn't have to explain it to Michael. He knew he knew. He knew he understood.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before. It’s not an easy topic. But I won’t keep secrets from you. I just want you to know that. I trust you. I want to make you happy. And I want you to live a long life. With me. I don’t want you to have any regrets, or worry about anything.”
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Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2022 6:57 am
He knew the pain. Maybe not the same as Alastor. Maybe not even close to the pain that Alastor felt, but Sessrumnir was no stranger to losing those he cared for.
“It’s okay,” he promised, because he knew it was difficult. He knew Alastor was doing his best. He had so much to worry about. And now that the Chaos on his world was gone, maybe he could finally relax more.
“I won’t keep secrets from you either. I mean… I won’t know what you’d want to know if you don’t ask, and I know I’m not exactly forthcoming with information without a reason, but I won’t hide things from you. I trust you and want you to have a long, happy life, with me too.”
They needed to get inside, he knew that, but Sessrumnir took a moment to lean close and kiss Alastor anyway. It was light -- a promise. To watch over him, to make sure he was happy. Trust and love and hope all rolled into one small kiss, because it would likely be a while before they could rest again.
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Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2022 7:26 am
Even if the kisses weren’t anything particularly passionate or intense, Alastor still felt like there was so much rolled into the little gesture that he couldn’t get enough of it. A part of him felt like a teenager again, which was impossibly inconvenient right now, when his bones ached from all the abuse he’d just put himself through. It didn’t really seem fair when he would have been perfectly happy to sit down and rest against the tree and see if he could kiss Michael silly.
…Maybe later. There would be time later.
“You know, I quite like that. When the boys are in bed tonight, we should take a few minutes to practice our bedtime kisses.”
No, he’d probably be asleep the second he hit the pillow, but it was a nice dream. And it was something to chase away the ache in his heart. It wasn’t bad, it was just bittersweet. He was happy with the present. He could look forward to the future. The past was something he’d probably wrestle with for a while, because it was good, and bad, and it was just life.
And life would go on, and he had time again.
He had his world again.
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