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 Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2022 5:02 pm
There was an audible sigh of exasperation at Devyn’s claim of not being able to poison him, as well as all the harm he must have done in order to build up an immune system to withstand everything, or so he claimed. Michael would have to make sure Devyn knew that, while he might be immune to poisons on Alastor, Earth had new poisons that had been created. Within the last century. There was a brief thought of getting childproof locks for the cleaning supply cabinet, but knew that if Devyn really wanted to get into the cabinet, he could probably just rip off the door.
He was grateful for the offer to teach him how to read the language they used. It would be much better if he knew what he was looking at instead of relying on Devyn to translate everything.
But he didn’t interrupt as Devyn went over the letter, instead listening to the way he worked hard to keep Percy from worrying. He couldn’t help but wonder if Percy really believed Devyn, or if he just went along with it for Devyn’s sake.
He could have sworn he saw a memory of Percy sitting on the edge of the bed with the letter in his hands. Except he’d lowered it down to his lap so he could stare somewhere across the room. Oh, their portrait was hanging up where he was looking. After a few moments, his expression shifted from sad to determined as he gently folded the letter up, pressed a kiss against the page, and tucked it under his pillow, where another--
The image had faded before Michael could see exactly what it was. He reached out to move the pillow again but… there was nothing under it. Unless.
Michael grimaced as he lowered himself onto the dusty carpet so he could peer under the bed. Stuck between the leg of the bed and the wall was a small, leatherbound book. And once he had it in his hands, he didn’t get up right away. Instead, he opened it to flip through a few of the pages.
“Found something else for you,” Michael said after a moment as he sat on the floor by the bed. It must have been a journal or sketchbook or just something to keep notes in. He couldn’t read any of it, but as he touched some of the pages, he felt as though he knew the feeling behind what was being written. Some notes must have been details of dreams Percy had. Others were just scribbled notes about what he wanted to write in his letters to Devyn. Some were lists of what he had planned for the day.
And there were sketches too. Probably a way for him to practice what he wanted to paint before painting it. From inanimate objects, like what he had for breakfast, or geometric shapes, or flowers and trees and leaves, or what seemed to look like plans for backgrounds of paintings, to plenty of doodles of Princess, and of course there were plenty of Devyn. It looked like there were some more, uh, intimate drawings as well--
At which point, Michael shut the book and held it out for Devyn as he tried to keep himself from grinning like a teenager caught with a naughty magazine. “Yeah, it’s definitely for you.”
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Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2022 5:15 pm
Of course there was the natural excitement of finding something for him, something precious and hidden and personal of Percy’s. And, Devyn had been looking for any sketchbooks and journals, anyway. “What’s that look for?” he asked, obviously now suspicious.
One brow raised and he immediately opened the book, flipped through–briefly, now. He could really look at it later, the important thing was that he had it. And–oh, yes, there it was.
“Oh.”
His lips pursed briefly, like he was critiquing the art, but everything Percy did was perfect and had absolutely no room for improvement.
And, Devyn was absolutely unashamed in the slightest. His ears didn’t go pink, the necklace didn’t reveal some well-hidden shock. Seeing it didn’t bother him, and Michael having seen it didn’t seem to bother him, either.
“Percy was very good. I always liked his sketches. His finished pieces have obviously been refined to perfection, but the sketches just have something more personal. You can see it in the lines. I can tell when he was hesitating, when he was thinking about what he was going to do. When he was feeling shy. These are not his shy pictures, his lines are very confident. But I know he kept all his journals, so I’m sure there are others around here.”
He didn’t know how many, or where, but he knew Percy wouldn’t have thrown away a journal just because he’d filled it.
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Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2022 5:30 pm
“He must have been very, uh, fond of you, then,” Michael continued to hold back a grin, even as he pushed himself up from the floor so he could finish taking the sheets off the bed. They were treated gently, and he knew they would have to make sure they were careful when being washed.
But no, he was not critiquing Percy’s art. He was just… wondering how accurate he was with what he drew, or if perhaps there was at least some exaggeration.
“I would like you to teach me,” he finally said since he didn’t before. “If you’re offering. It would have been useful to be able to read some of… anything… back when we were trying to prepare for whatever the Velencians were planning.”
Even with Ganymede’s memories, the only thing it led them to was Serge’s device he’d been working on. But it hadn’t been ready by the time the Velencians revealed their true intentions. And then it was destroyed.
“We’ll keep looking for his other journals. But let me get this set up for you first,” he said as he went over to Princess to rub her head, and then pick up one of the bags he’d brought with him. He brought the largest sized sheets he had with him, since it would be easier to tuck them under instead of trying to make due with something that didn’t fit at all. He shook one out and tossed it over the bed so he could work on tucking everything in.
“I’ll sleep on the couch. Or… if you’d rather not sleep in here, I brought a sleeping bag too. I can take the floor and you can have the couch then.”
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Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2022 5:45 pm
Devyn was still thumbing through the journal but seemed to realize that they still had work to do. He dismissed the journal to subspace for now; he’d have time to look at it later. Even if it was tempting to just sit on the floor and ignore the dust just so he could go through it. Instead, he moved to the other side of the bed and tugged the corner of the sheets over to help fit them into place.
“I can sleep in here. Seems like a waste not to, after all this effort cleaning.”
There was still plenty more than needed to be done, but he wasn't worried about kicking up dust anymore, at least. “Are you sure you want to sleep on the couch out there? The bed’s big enough for three.”
Obviously, Princess was already factored into the sleeping arrangements.
“It gets cold here, you might want her laying on your feet tonight. But, I don’t want you on the floor, you’ll catch a chill.”
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Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2022 5:59 pm
He nodded in thanks to Devyn as he helped pull the sheets over the bed, and then went to pull out a blanket he’d brought with him as well to add over top of the sheets.
“I’ll be okay,” he promised, because while he appreciated the offer, it seemed wrong for him to accept it.
This was Percy and Devyn’s room. Not Michael’s. Devyn, who was still coming to terms with the delusions he’d created for himself for centuries after Percy’s death.
And as Michael said before, he wasn’t doing this for him.
“Princess should stay in here with you. Bed is definitely bigger than the couch,” he said with a glance at Princess in the doorway, who thwapped her tail on the floor upon hearing her name. “Give you some time to look through that journal in peace, too.” Maybe even try to work out his emotions. Devyn probably wouldn’t want Michael there to witness that.
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Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2022 6:06 pm
Briefly, Devyn pursed his lips. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to sleep in an empty bed. Princess would be there, sure, but. What was he supposed to do when he woke up in the middle of the night and reached for Percy and he wasn’t there?
…Probably would be best if Michael wasn’t there, he supposed. But.
“Maybe,” he relented. Of course he wanted to read the journal. He just wasn’t sure if he wanted to devour it all now or if he should save it, or–would Percy mind? No, probably not. Percy would have let him if he’d asked. And Devyn was desperate for any little scrap of him that he could find.
Percy might not have been alive, but he was in the pages. He’d left behind a part of himself in everything he ever worked on, and something like this was more personal than most of the paintings on the wall.
Maybe Michael had a point. He sighed, and smoothed out the blanket on his side of the bed.
“Feels a bit unfair to make you sleep out there. But don’t sleep on the floor, I mean it. It gets cold, so make sure you have extra blankets.”
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Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2022 6:21 pm
“It’s not unfair if I’m the one saying I want to sleep out there,” Michael pointed out, but glanced up with a small smile, hoping that Devyn didn’t think that he was trying to force him to do anything he didn’t want to. Michael knew it was probably going to be different and difficult sleeping in that bed without Percy, but hopefully Princess would keep him company.
Not just company, but someone familiar. Someone who knew Devyn. Not just a stranger who happened to share the starseed of his dead husband. Yes, Michael felt comfortable around Devyn, more than he could remember feeling comfortable around anyone else. He was able to trust him easily, able to talk to him and share things he wouldn’t have imagined sharing with anyone else.
And they’d only known each other for less than a week. Or had been around each other for that long, at least. Michael wasn’t counting the almost three months that Devyn had gone back to Alastor to figure things out.
“I’ll have extra blankets, don’t worry,” he smiled again, and went about collecting up the dropped cloths he’d used for dusting so he could stick them inside of a bag in his subspace to dispose of later. “Alright, Princess. You protect Devyn, okay?” he said, reaching down to scratch behind her ears before watching as she lumbered up to go hover around Devyn.
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Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2022 7:19 pm
Michael might have had a point, but sooner or later he was going to have to learn that Devyn was, of course, going to worry. He didn’t argue it, just nodded.
“All right,” he relented. It had been a long day, sleep didn’t seem like such a bad idea. Well–not now, probably. He’d probably poke around the room for a while longer, see what else he could find, reminisce. Maybe look at the journal for a little while.
Maybe see if he could find the others.
With Princess nearby, he returned to lavishing her with affection; he’d be more than happy to share the bed with her. Maybe if she laid close enough, he wouldn’t be reminded that it was just the two of them.
“Come here, Princess,” he said, and kissed atop her head. “You have to protect me from the cold. I promise I’ll try not to get into any other trouble tonight.”
He’d try.
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