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Slidr, on his part, had been sitting on a rooftop with one leg hanging over the side and the other bent so he could drape his arm casually over his knee.

The first time he had told Alexandre he had worked when in fact he actually had the evening off, guilt gnawed at him to the point that he ended up going home early under the guise that he was feeling sick. But now, as the strain on their relationship seemed to be holding on by only a few threads, the lies seemed to come much more easily.

It had been a while since he had felt comfortable in their shared room which is why he had moved some of his belongings into one of the spares a few months ago. It was done under the guise of wanting to pursue some hobbies that needed more space or a room further from the living room in case there were guests over so he could sleep.

For almost four years Aiden had been absolutely loyal to his boyfriend, never once had he considered cheating on him with someone else and at one point had even considered proposing despite knowing that marriage was not something Alex was interested in. However, as time went on, certain aspects of his personality remained unchanged; most notably his reserved, or seemingly asocial, behavior. It made adapting to new housemates difficult, even if they were related to Alexandre. This was Alex’s home and in the end, Aiden really had no say as to who took up residence in the extra rooms.

But what pushed him to the edge was the secret meetings Alex had. For the number of times he had come home to unfamiliar cars parked in the driveway only to peer in through a window to count anywhere between four to six people who he didn’t recognize. It made him feel uncomfortable as if he was being shunted aside for something he really didn’t understand. He had never been introduced to any of these people and because his boyfriend didn’t mention that there would be guests, Aiden chose to pretend to play ignorant and power up instead and wait until the people left.

Today was not that kind of day. Alex was home, on the couch with both dogs nearby watching some documentary, and here he was being a stubborn a*****e refusing to go home like some errant child running away from their problems.

Slidr had been so absorbed in his own thoughts that he had completely missed the aura of a knight until it was almost directly below him… no- the aura was stronger than a knight but not the same strength as the prince or princess he had witnessed fighting when they had entered the Dark Kingdom so many years ago to retrieve the Code.

“The view is better up here,” he replied.

He motioned with one hand across the horizon which was only blocked by one building across the street and a few tall trees. Plus, going down there meant he’d have to move and right now he wasn’t really in the mood for pulling some fancy parkour moves to go down to street level.

“Care to join me up here instead? There’s plenty of room.” At least this way they wouldn’t have to wander around looking for someplace to sit.”

Slidr would have rolled his eyes and told her to go ahead and keep patrolling but instead just gazed out at the distance.

Some preferred to keep moving while others watched and waited for something to come to them. Right now he was feeling more of the latter, play bait and let whoever happens upon him exhaust themselves trying to reach where he was at.

“My relationship with my boyfriend took precedence.” At least it did, until recently. “I took a pretty long break from my powered responsibilities hoping to repair something that was slowly breaking. But in the end-” his words trailed off and after a few minutes passed it was clear he had no intention of finishing that sentence.

“I need to move forward in some facet of my life… may as well be this.” Sounded kind of cynical when said like that but the way things were with Alexandre there really didn’t seem to be much of a future with him.

So many secrets and lies. They were tearing a rift between them and no matter how he tried, it seemed that this cavernous ravine was doomed to split wide open and be a permanent divide between them. Secret meetings to their house, coming home with injuries and the only explination that he’d receive was that he fell or some dumb s**t answer like that.It aggrivated him to no end and only served to make him worry but it was obvious to tell that Alexandre simply didn’t want him to know or be involved with whatever trouble he was in.

Aiden knew his boyfriend well enough that while he hated to tell lies, it seemed over time he had found a taste for partial truths.

“I feel like I’m being called to my wonder, but I’m not ready to go there yet.” He finally admitted after some time. There was supposedly a piece of code there he could locate but he worried that if he retreated to the place that he almost yearned to visit, he may never come back to Destiny City… to Alex.

“Not tonight…” Slidr shook his head and it felt as if something within him broke. It was as if he was punishing himself for lying to Alexandre. So much of him simply wanted to run away, to a place only he could go but doing so would be cowardly and he still had Riley to consider.

“If you feel called to go to yours we can visit your wonder. But until I figure out what I’m going to do with the situation at home I just can’t go to mine…” Doing so would mean that he has accepted that both he and Alexandre were officially over and that he had resigned himself to fighting this war as a knight of mercury and would be devoted to this life instead because at least in this regard he had control over his life and growth as he worked towards becoming a Knight, perhaps even transcended like Delphi.

“I should be fine,” Slidr stood up and pulled his fur trimmed hood over his head.

Despite how thin his uniform looked, it was made to withstand the temperatures of his own frigid wonder. A river of solid eyes where not even the currents flowed beneath it; or perhaps he simply didn’t dig far enough the last time he had gone. He had meant to return with an ice pick or something else to use to see if he could crack the surface as his weapon, although it appeared sharp at one end, really didn’t hold up against the frozen surface of his wonder. Hell, the damn thing couldn’t even block a spear as it descended upon him.

Slidr touched the scar that cut across his eyebrow in remembrance of when the General nearly severed him in two. Even today he could recall the sound of his weapon shattering under the petite mans surprising strength.

He accepted her offered hand, drew in a deep breath and then exhaled slowly. It has been years since he was last teleported anywhere, a sensation that he likely wouldn’t forget in this lifetime or the next but still something he had to prepare himself both mentally and physically.

When ready, Slidr nodded his head so she could speak the ritual known to every knight.