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 Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2023 12:43 pm
Alastor laughed softly but he didn’t draw away from Sessrmnir. Instead, he pulled him close and held him for a moment longer. “I love you, Michael. Yes, we can go look at that portal. But I don’t mind if you get distracted. I do it often enough.”
There was no competition for who went through what; their experiences were different, but the only thing that mattered to Devyn was that he could be what Michael needed when times were hard. He wanted to be able to support him and see that he was thriving.
He released Sessrumnir, but not without a quick kiss. “It’s over here,” he said, as he once more took his hand and began to lead him to a corner. A small nook had been built in, though it was hidden behind a tapestry that matched the others enough that it appeared relatively inconspicuous. Especially in a room with plenty of other distractions.
He pinned the tapestry up to the side to open the passageway and let in some light. The path was about four foot wide and several feet deep; it was small, but it wasn’t cramped. At the end of it, an ornate platform that, despite its technology, could have easily passed as a decorative floor piece. There was no telling how much of it was science and how much of magic, but it was beautiful all the same. “I can get some more lights, I have some of those portable ones you gave me in my desk still. I’ve tinkered with it some but I didn’t touch anything. I haven’t looked at the one at Sessrumnir though, so I don’t know if that one’s in good condition or not. But this is what we used to use. You’d step back here, wait a second, and keep walking and you’d pop out the other side. I know Perce made a blueprint, but I don’t know where it is. We thought it best to stay locked up so people weren’t using these for nefarious purposes, or trying to break in where they shouldn’t be. Only a few people ever knew about it.”
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Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2023 12:58 pm
He couldn’t help but feel relaxed around Alastor, and happily accepted the kiss as they parted. There had been a lot of things that shook his confidence, but Devyn had only ever built him up. If there were any doubts in his mind, it wasn’t due to anything Devyn did or said. Just his own thoughts and past experiences.
He moved closer to the tapestry and then passageway when Devyn revealed it, and he knelt down to inspect the platform once he was close enough.
“This is beautiful. And might be beyond my skill to--”
There was movement out of the corner of his eye, although Devyn hadn’t moved from behind him. A young man with his hair pulled back was carefully piecing together some of the gears underneath the main piece of flooring, and then lowered it down so that it all clicked into place and shifted so the way to open it wasn’t noticeable.
Sessrumnir reached out to brush his fingers along the platform, and then pushed against where he’d seen it turn. At first he thought about giving up because he didn’t want to break it, but then it clicked and twisted open. He removed the top but.
“It’s powered off from Sessrumnir’s side,” he said before he could really think about what he was saying. How did he even know that? “There’s an energy here… I don’t know if it’s electrical or magic but… It’s like something is being blocked. It might have run through whatever reserves it had when Sessrumnir shut down.”
Except he knew that it only shut down when the Knight passed, and needed a new one to guard the Code piece. There was a shimmering light in the gears that seemed associated with Alastor, but the other that had once glowed brighter, was dim. It likely remained active for a little while to give Devyn the chance to get there and back, but whatever return trip he made likely shut it down.
“Sorry, I don’t know what I’m talking about. There was just… Percy was messing with it,” he explained and placed the piece of the platform back down to close it again.
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Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2023 1:17 pm
Alastor immediately shifted positions to be closer to Sessrumnir. It took him a second to process what he’d said, but he nodded along. “You sound like you know what you’re talking about. You had a memory?” he asked, with just a bit of hope in his voice. It was unclear if he was just excited to have it fixed or just thought it was impressive to see with clarity enough to know what was wrong.
He trusted Percy, though. He trusted Michael just as much.
His hand rested on Sessrumnir’s back and he rubbed it a bit. Maybe Sessrumnir didn’t need any sort of comfort, but Devyn drew strength from the little touches, and Michael didn’t have enough of them in his life.
“I suppose I’m a bit relieved to know that the damage isn’t on my end. I thought I’d gone mad, I did everything I could to try and fix it. We’ll have to look at it when we go visit Sessrumnir. It doesn’t have to be soon,” he reassured, because his excitement came with no expectation or demand. It was just something to look forward to when they wanted to try.
“I should get the pieces Percy was working on, the portable ones. We could probably take those back home if you wanted to look at them, too.” It’s not like they could damage them; they hadn’t been able to get them working, and Devyn wasn’t going to hold out much hope. But, Percy had worked hard on them, and Devyn couldn’t bring himself to throw out anything he’d invested so much time in. “Maybe you can figure out what they’re missing, too.”
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Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2023 2:39 pm
The hand on his back was appreciated. A little reminder that he wasn’t alone, but also to keep him grounded in case any more of the memory surfaced.
“Yeah, it must have been,” he said, but he wasn’t entirely sure what he saw. Most of his memories had been as a third party. Except for the first time he saw Devyn in Serge’s office. Back before he knew who he was. Much less that he was actually still alive.
“Everything looks like it’s in good condition here, so no, you didn’t do anything wrong. We can go to Sessrumnir soon. I want to see if we can find those pieces, especially if you’ll be able to get to Sessrumnir without me. Not that I wouldn’t take you, but I might want to join you after work. It’ll be more convenient if we don’t have to go at the same time,” he tried to explain, glancing over his shoulder at Devyn, and then wincing as he worked on getting up.
“I’m getting old. My knees always ache,” he said with a quiet laugh as he brushed himself off. “Remind me to get a pillow at Sessrumnir before I kneel down.”
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Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2023 4:57 pm
Devyn laughed softly and shook his head. “If your knees ache, let me carry you. I’m still young and spry.” They’d bring a pillow, certainly, but Michael was always so hard on himself. And sometimes he made excuses for why he couldn’t have nice things, too.
“We can always soak in the springs if any part of you is giving you a hard time.”
He always felt refreshed after a dip, and if it was only going to be the two of them, they might as well make good use of it when they could. But Devyn really would have preferred to have an excuse just to have Michael in his arms.
“I suppose I must be running you around a bit. I’m more than happy to take a break, if you ever want to sit and rest somewhere, we can. There’s plenty to see. Even after all these years, I find myself finding new things. Or, maybe I just never looked closely enough to see them before.”
Or, he’d forgotten, and was in the process of remembering and relearning the things that time had taken from him.
He smiled at Michael and offered a hand, just in case he didn’t feel like humoring Devyn’s antics enough to let him carry him for a bit.
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Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2023 5:21 pm
“How did I know you were going to offer?” Michael snorted softly in amusement, but he still looked at Devyn with curiosity, like he still wasn’t sure what was teasing and what was sincere. Devyn sounded sincere, but it was such a ridiculous offer…
And there was no telling how long Devyn had now. Maybe he would continue not to age. Maybe in a decade it would be more apparent that he was still as young as he appeared now. Or maybe the destruction of Chaos meant his time was finally winding down. What if in a few years he ended up looking much older, much quicker than he otherwise would, had he lived a normal life?
It wasn’t something Michael liked to think about. Just like he didn’t like to think about the regrets he might have if he didn’t do everything in his power to make sure Devyn was happy now and always.
So Michael took Devyn’s hand, and pulled it behind his back, giving him a look as though he was trying to call his bluff. He didn’t have to carry him, but if he really, truly wanted to, it wasn’t as though anyone else was around to judge them.
“If you want to show off so badly. Good thing we’re going to the Springs so you can rest up, too,” he pointed out, reaching up with his free hand so he could brush Devyn’s hair back from his face and give him a quick kiss.
“I look forward to finding new things with you. And I don’t mind running around, but I also like when I get to take a break with you.”
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Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2023 5:31 pm
Michael said yes. Alastor’s eyes flashed with excitement and as soon as they had cleared the more narrow hallway he eagerly scooped him up. If he’d had any doubts about his ability to do so on Earth–and, he hadn’t–there were none now while he was powered up.
He gathered Sessrumnir in his arms and lifted him almost as if he weighed nothing.
Alastor was glad to have Michael in his arms; if ever he was going to bluff, it wasn’t going to be about something like this. He did want to show off. But he wanted to pamper Michael, too. He wanted to have fun. He wanted to give him a momentary reprieve from all the dark things in the world–from all the grief and loss and hardship.
One kiss hadn’t been enough, so when he settled Sessrumnir in his arms, he kissed his forehead, and then his lips.
“You fit perfectly, you know.”
He was bigger than Percy. Different.
He still fit, though.
Alastor carried him with his full heart, and the bounce in his step was a clear indication of how delighted he was.
“I feel the same way.” He had no shortage of energy, but he was happy if he was running around or resting, as long as Michael was there. “I’m looking forward to everything with you, Michael. Of course, every time I’m with you, the list of things I want to do gets longer. Good thing we’re both still so young and have so much energy.”
And so much time left together, he hoped. They’d missed a lot already, but he was determined to make up for it now.
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