The first time he wakes up on his own, without anyone else around, is when he first moves to Destiny City.

The hotel room is something cheap, something non obtrusive. The mattress is cheap and stiff, and the blankets are scratchy, washed several times over so that they've lost all of their softness. Auguste doesn't know how to look for anything else, but he doesn't mind, not really. Not when this is his new life, not when he's taken such a huge step in a direction he's never been before. America is unfamiliar and confusing and loud; he's never heard so much noise in his entire life, Auguste finding it fascinating, and he turns his head every which way as he tries to figure out what to do first. He needs to find an actual place to live - somewhere that doesn't smell faintly of cleaning chemicals and dampness, something that doesn't make him feel like the walls are closing in on himself.

He wakes up, and he is alone in the stiff, almost uncomfortable mattress, and he doesn't mind, not really.

(Except he does mind. He's alone because he chose this path, because he chose to come here, chose to change his name and become someone else, chose to step into a life of his own instead of living the one his parents always dreamed about. They're good people, his parents, but they don't understand why he's leaving his comfortable, familiar life behind for one that has no solidarity or basis to it. And neither, really, does Auguste. All he knows is that this is what he wants to do - what he needs to do, and that it's the right choice, however daunting it might be.)

There is no sound of his mother on the patio, the squeak of a rocking chair as she reclines and the rustle of paper as she reads the morning post. There is no sizzle of bacon or sausage on the stove as his father stands over it, spatula in hand, prodding at the fixings for breakfast, no tapping sound as he cracks an egg against the side of the counter and lets it cook alongside the meat. All Auguste hears now is the sound of cars rushing past, the sound of an alarm going off somewhere, the tweet and twitter of birds outside the window, hidden behind polyester curtains. None of these are reminiscent of home, but he wants to explore them anyway, wants to figure out if all of the city sounds like that.

He doesn't wake up alone after he gets Pasha.

Pasha is a ball of energy and love and affection; a cluster of cotton white fluff and a pink tongue and a little black nose that he likes to stick into Auguste's ear and sniff enthusiastically. He is exactly what Auguste needs, he thinks, and he is beyond thrilled that he has the little dog in his life, that he has this wonderful, adorable creature in his life now. Pasha fills a void that Auguste didn't even know was in his heart, settling himself comfortably in it as though he was always meant to be there. More often than not, Auguste wakes up to the warm, familiar bundle of snow tucked next to him, against his side, or at his feet, or on the pillow by his head. Pasha is growing larger every day, and soon he will be too big to be on the pillow by his head - but for now, Auguste doesn't mind, even if he wakes up with a paw in his face every now and then.

He wakes up, one time after moving in with Nadia, after unexpectedly dozing on the couch.

They are watching a movie together, and he's drifted off. Auguste doesn't wake noticeably - his eyes slowly open, sleepy and heavy, and he becomes aware that he's leaning against something warm and comfortable, and that he's not in his bed. It takes him another moment to understand why this is: he's on the couch, and Nadia is beside him, while Auguste has his head tucked against her shoulder. Sometime while he's dozed, she's put an arm around his shoulders, her thumb absently smoothing against his arm, and she's still awake herself, still watching the movie. Auguste can feel his heart beating rapidly in his chest - but then it slows, because if it was a bother, she would push him away. She wouldn't put her arm around him like she cared, like she wanted to make him more comfortable, and Auguste can feel happiness spreading hotly through his chest.

He closes his eyes and falls back asleep, safe in Nadia's loose embrace.

He stays over at Colin's and wakes before the blond does.

In the sleep he sees (this one instance in time, this quiet memory being made), Colin is peaceful. His brow is smooth, his face relaxed, and golden strands of his hair are falling across his forehead. Auguste hesitates only a moment before reaching up and gently brushing the curls away, his fingers lingering against the other man's temple. Colin is warm and solid next to him, always emitting that sense of safety and security that Auguste is slowly growing used to as time begins to pass.

He eases forward and presses a light, simple kiss to Colin's temple before Auguste snuggles back down into the blankets and lets himself drift off to sleep again.

There are times when he wakes up in the middle of the night and forgets where he is. The walls that surround him at Nadia's feel still a little unfamiliar - but at the same time, not unwelcoming. Auguste has come to regard the apartment less as just a house and more of a home, even if it's taking a little while to adjust to that. He's never had a place like this before, and has not ever had the experience to gauge it against, so he doesn't know if what he's feeling is right or wrong.

He likes the feel of gentle fingers threading through his hair.

Of a soft kiss on his brow.

Of reassuring words, sometimes deep and rumbling, sometimes low and sweet, sometimes higher and kind, that ebb through his veins and settle deep into his heart for him to remember and treasure later.

Of laughter ringing in his ears, in his very bones.

He doesn't know if he's growing too complacent, because Amphitrite's words come back to him at the worst possible moments - they will forget you - and he can't help but hold some part of himself back, Auguste almost waiting for the inevitable moment in which this occurs. He wants so badly for it not to be true, but even if he's already resigned himself to the idea that it will, he still will not leave them. He still can't walk away from the people that have made him feel this good for the first time in his life, for the first time since he came to Destiny City. All of the ones that he cares for, that he holds so dear, that he holds so close to his heart.

He loves them all, or is growing to, and he wants to protect them, wants to support them.

Even if they leave him behind, even if they forget him, he will not abandon them.

Any of them.


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