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 Posted: Mon May 09, 2022 6:46 pm
He couldn’t help but smile whenever Devyn laughed. It was a nice laugh. There wasn’t any malintent behind it, just… pure.
He wanted to hear Devyn laugh, and part of him was quietly warning him once more that he needed to be careful. Devyn was his friend, someone he could trust. He didn’t want to ruin what they had by being clingy or asking too much. Or doing too little.
“I should be good, Dev. Thank you. Really,” Michael said as he eased himself back onto the side of the bed and did his best not to wince or show any discomfort. “There’s a book on the dresser I think I’d like to read,” he said with a nod towards the stack. “The one with the blue spine.”
While Michael doubted he would be able to sleep, he was at least going to try. He didn’t want to worry Devyn.
“You should put some ice on your stomach. Or a bag of frozen vegetables, at least. Should help with any swelling and pain. Take some medicine, too.”
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2022 6:59 pm
“Oh, vegetables, yeah. That’s a good idea. Then I’ll have a snack when they thaw.”
He made sure Michael was in bed before he adjusted the blankets so he could tug them up and over his lap. He’d been shirtless and on the floor of the bathroom, and covered in his own blood for a while so he really didn’t want him to get sick on top of all of this.
He rubbed at his stomach again, as if to test and see if the bruising had gotten any worse and–it had–but that didn’t stop him. He picked up the blue-spined book and handed it over.
“I’ll be back in a minute, don’t get into any trouble while I’m gone.”
He made it to the door before he paused and said, “I’m going to worry about you tonight. I know you’re strong. I can tell that your body’s strong, too. But I’m going to worry, anyway. Would it bother you if I slept in here tonight? I don’t mind if you want to be alone, I’ll still come check on you.”
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2022 7:14 pm
It was difficult not to snicker good naturedly at Devyn’s comment about eating the thawed vegetables, and while Michael was sure he was serious, he wondered if he knew he was being silly on purpose.
He somehow managed to rein it back to just a smile, because it did hurt every time he laughed.
As for Devyn sleeping there, Michael hesitated. He knew what he wanted. But that wasn’t always what was best. If he wasn’t careful…
“I don’t want you to worry,” he said after a few moments, and he looked up at Devyn cautiously, as though trying to read him. He wasn’t Percy… but there was a small part of him that was glad he shared his starseed.
Maybe he could accept being treated as though he was someone else if it meant a bit of companionship. Even if they were just friends.
“It wouldn’t bother me. You can even bring your vegetables,” he gently teased, since Devyn did say he wouldn’t bring snacks with him.
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2022 8:39 am
For a moment, Devyn had held his breath. His hand rested on the door frame and he didn’t realize that he’d been digging his fingers into it while he waited for an answer. In the end, he laughed again. “Oh, good. Then I won’t have to wake you up to get something to eat later. We can share.”
The smile felt easy, and even if he was sore and his body was very rapidly reminding him that he was not invincible.
“Call if you think of something else you need. I’ll be back soon,” he promised.
He wasn’t going to keep him waiting; he recited the list of everything he was supposed to bring the entire time it took him to change into his pajamas. He grabbed a blanket, a pillow. Just in case! A workbook, just in case. A glass of water, a glass of orange juice. Bag of frozen vegetables. Medicine.
That was everything, right?
Probably. Maybe. He was going to need more hands if he wanted to make it back up in one trip.
But, he managed.
Which was an impressive task, considering how easily distracted he was by thoughts of Michael and everything he could do to try and make this a little easier on him.
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