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 Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2022 2:14 pm
Alastor had pressed the button to return to Earth.
At first, he wasn’t even sure if it had worked; he’d gone from one dark sky to another and was dizzy right off the bat. The nausea passed quickly, and then it hit him all at once. It was cold, more so than on Alastor. There wasn’t an oppressive wave of Chaos lingering all around his peripheral. The air smelled fresh. The trees were tall and healthy.
When he listened, he could hear the city.
It hadn’t taken him long to follow his way toward the lights on the horizon, and as soon as he stepped out of the treeline of the forest he powered down, like he was supposed to do. Not before he’d laid Michael’s jacket and his necklace on the ground, but as soon as he was Devyn again, he put on the jacket and slipped the necklace under his shirt.
It was cold but it didn’t bother him; until he could wear the ring on his finger again, it was safest there over his heart.
Maybe this time he’d eat enough that it didn't keep sliding off.
He walked for only a moment before things started to look familiar, and then he realized that luck must have been on his side because he recognized where he was. And, better than that, he knew how to make his way back to Michael’s place.
He’d found the coffee shop where he’d met two of the Gallo brothers, and he knew it was a ten minute walk from there to Michael’s place. Devyn made it in only forty five minutes, which was good time considering he was lost after he turned the first corner.
Of all the houses on the block, he recognized Michael’s porch immediately. He jogged from the road to the front door and knocked, as if it wasn’t one in the morning.
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Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2022 5:09 pm
The door was pulled open before Devyn had a chance to knock a second time.
It might have been opened sooner had Michael not been so disbelieving of the alert on his phone that he usually ignored. People walking through the neighborhood in the middle of the night wasn’t too unheard of, and it wasn’t as though the thought of possible intruders kept Michael up at night. The cameras were mostly for after. And he was kept up at night by other things already.
He stared at Devyn for only a few moments, before stepping back so they could get out of the cold.
There were so many things that Michael felt as though he wanted to say, but the words wouldn’t form. After seventy-six days (not that he’d been counting) and everything that had happened during that time, he should have had a lot to say.
But he was tired. It was an exhaustion that dug deep, more than just lack of sleep.
He felt lost. Hopeless. Sorrow, grief, fear, anger -- the relief that Devyn was alive and back on Earth tempered everything for the moment, but he didn’t know how long it would last.
“Hungry?” he asked instead, because it was easy to lower his eyes and focus on closing the door, and to turn to head for the kitchen, than meet Devyn’s too observant gaze. “Peter’s at a friend’s place, so don’t worry about waking anyone up.”
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Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2022 5:47 pm
“Is it late?” Devyn asked, and only then seemed to realize that it was night. More than just ‘night’, it had been very dark. He hadn’t seen lights on, he hadn’t seen many people.
He looked over his shoulder only briefly before he looked back to Michael and stepped in. “I didn’t realize. My world’s very dark, I think I’m just used to it. I am hungry, yes. It’s good to see you, Michael. Really good to see you.”
Michael’s house was much warmer than outside but he didn’t attempt to remove his borrowed jacket. He followed after Michael like he was afraid to lose sight of him.
There was only a few seconds of quiet before he asked, “Did I wake you up?”
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Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2022 5:51 pm
Was it late? For a moment Michael had to pause and wonder what it was like to not know an approximation of the time. At first he thought it was something he could probably be amused by, but then settled into trying to understand just how disorienting it must be for Devyn to live in a place where it was likely impossible to tell what time it was by looking outside. There were places like that on Earth, of course. Not that Michael had lived anywhere like that.
“Depends on who you ask,” he admitted, glancing over his shoulder and realizing he was doing so because he needed to make sure that Devyn was real. And wearing his jacket. Good, at least he was being responsible.
“A lot of bars stay open later than this. Did you have bars on Alastor?” Michael wondered, not wanting to insult Devyn by giving too much or too little information about things. “Some people work at night and sleep during the day. But no, you didn’t wake me up,” he said as he forced a small smile and made himself meet Devyn’s eyes for a moment before turning back to the kitchen so he could open the refrigerator.
“I’m glad you made it back in one piece. I was starting to worry,” he said, the last bit slipping out before he could stop himself. But that wasn’t surprising. In the barely four days he’d gotten to know Devyn, he found it was almost too easy to talk to him. Which was insane, because Michael often tried pushing people away.
But it probably wasn’t even his own doing. He’d just barely recognized Devyn from a memory. Maybe he was being nice to him because he knew how painful it was going to be to know the truth. How painful it was.
“Sorry, if I knew you’d be back, I would have had more food. I can make you a sandwich,” he offered.
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Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2022 6:20 pm
“A sandwich sounds good. I can make it if you don’t mind me rooting around. Do you want one, did you eat dinner?”
He had a hundred things to say but didn’t quite know where to start. He reached up to rub at his chest, aware of the faint soreness from a scar that had long ago healed except when it decided to remind him that it still existed. Usually before the rain, sometimes just because.
“I can always go find one of those bars, too. See if they have any food. We have them on Alastor. I haven’t seen one in a long time. Even when they were around, I didn’t go often, though. Too much alcohol seemed to put people in a competitive mood, so it was asking for trouble. Most of the ones I ever stopped at were inns, too.” He didn’t know why he was compelled to keep talking. Partly because he remembered how things had been when he’d left, and he was worried that if he didn’t keep talking he’d wind up making things awkward.
“I’m sorry for worrying you. I had a lot to work out. I’ve got it a bit sorted, now. Alastor’s doing no worse than before. I’d like to stay on Earth for a little longer this time. If that’s not too much of an imposition.”
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Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2022 6:33 pm
“Not at all,” Michael said in response to… many things he realized. He didn’t mind Devyn going through the food that was in the kitchen, since he was more likely to find things he wanted to eat than get surprised by something strange. If that was possible for Devyn. And it wasn’t any trouble for him to stay longer, if that’s what he wanted to do.
Michael was aware that Devyn could very well change his mind, but he would figure out what to do then, if anything.
“I won’t say no to one. Thanks,” was all he said on the topic of if he’d eaten dinner. He couldn’t remember what he had to eat last, but he didn’t think it counted as dinner. These days he wasn’t very hungry anyway.
He got out of Devyn’s way and pulled out a chair from the nearby kitchen table so he could sit down. He rested his cheek against his palm and elbow against the table as he listened and watched. He didn’t mind Devyn talking. It was better than letting his thoughts wander.
“Peter found some extra clothes for you. For when you came back. They’re in the guest room,” he said, deciding it was easier to give credit to Peter, as was usually the case. “Probably better luck with food here. Or fast food restaurants. Or even twenty four hour grocery stores,” he mumbled absently as he picked at the fabric of his lounge pants and long sleeve knit shirt he wore for pajamas.
“Got into a lot of fights, huh? Everyone trying to one up the Senshi, huh?” he surmised with a quiet breath of a laugh. There wasn’t really anything funny about it, just that it was typical for people to always seem to want to prove themselves, as if it made them better than anyone else.
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Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2022 7:15 pm
The approval was all Devyn needed before he started to make himself comfortable in the kitchen. He wasn’t the best chef, but that was only because he seemed to have very low standards when it came to what he would eat. He’d been desperate for long enough that he didn’t really care what he was eating.
Michael though, that was a different story. He wasn’t going to feed Michael just anything. He’d make him a proper sandwich, because he’d already been invited to share this kitchen before and Peter had shown him how Michael liked his sandwiches the last time he’d been fixing up lunch for them.
So, that was easy, and Michael’s fridge was beautiful stocked.
He couldn’t help the little sigh of relief when he was greeted with so much light and so much food.
He moved quickly, partly because he didn’t want to give his stomach the chance to growl and partly because he had so much energy he didn’t know what to do with. “Always fighting. Keeps you young,” he said absentmindedly. “I’m glad you two didn’t give up on me coming back. I’m sorry I left so suddenly.”
He knew he probably didn’t have to apologize. Michael had seemed like he understood. Devyn swallowed but he wasn’t sure why. Maybe because the wounds were still fresh, again. At least the sandwich was coming along quickly. “I’ll have to thank Peter. And you, again. Those flashlights were amazing. And I didn’t run out of food while I was up there. Got close, but. I finished everything I needed to do as soon as I could. Was I gone for long?”
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Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2022 4:17 pm
Devyn didn’t need to apologize, but Michael understood the compulsion. There were a lot of things he wanted to apologize for, whether or not he was at fault. It was easier that way, sometimes. To carry the guilt someone else wouldn’t accept, if only to try and make amends to someone who deserved better.
“Depends on who you ask,” he said again, his voice sounding a bit more tired, maybe because he was sitting down. “It’s been over two months… a lot longer than you being on Earth, but obviously shorter than…” He left the comment unfinished, lifting his free hand to wave vaguely. It wasn’t a lifetime… even if it felt like it to Michael.
A lot of things had happened between the time Devyn left and that moment. Too many things to burden Devyn with before he had the chance to eat, and a chance to rest. He deserved that much, after all the secrets kept from him. All the secrets that were still being kept from him.
Instead of lowering his hand back to his lap, Michael absently reached for the shape of the necklace under his shirt. Being honest was one of the last things he’d discussed with his father, but he couldn’t help but wonder if he would actually regret pushing Devyn away with the truth.
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Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2022 4:56 pm
For a second, Devyn paused and looked up. He didn’t seem to be looking at anything in particular, just processing that it had been so long. “Oh,” he answered, shook his head, and went back to fixing up the sandwiches. He didn’t put anything away, he wasn’t sure if Michael might want to eat more. He wasn’t sure if he was going to eat more.
He set one plate down in front of Michael and then moved across from him. Devyn had taken a bite of his sandwich before he’d even sat down, but after a quick chew and swallow, and the obvious sigh of relief, he seemed eager to talk again. “It passed quickly. It kept storming. The flooding is bad, but I’m up on a bit of a hill so it’s never quite gotten that high.”
He was sort of skirting the subject, he knew that. Michael might not have been personally invested in everything going on in Devyn’s life, or everything that had gone on in his life.
“I was looking forward to coming back, though. I just wanted to make sure my world could handle me being gone for a bit. I’ve been making lists so I can stay on track. Just to make sure I don’t forget anything.”
He took another bite of the sandwich almost immediately afterwards to stop himself from saying more. He was hungry, but it was more than that; he didn’t do it because he was embarrassed or worried, but just because what he’d forgotten last time was still sensitive enough that he didn’t know how to touch on it, or if he even should.
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Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2022 5:10 pm
Michael shifted back in his chair so he could make room for the plate that was placed in front of him, muttering a quiet word of thanks before glancing up as Devyn started talking again.
And yet, Devyn’s apparent desire to talk was something of a relief. Some of the tension that had built with not knowing just how Devyn was after everything seemed to ease a bit, and Michael lowered his hand from his chest to pick up the sandwich instead.
“Is that typical? The storms, I mean. I can’t imagine you’d be able to do much with weather like that,” he sighed, but kept himself from mentioning things that had already been pulled to the tip of his tongue, especially with how easy it was for him to talk to Devyn. He couldn’t exactly mention Jupiter without coming up with more lies.
Unless he was ready for Devyn to get angry about what was kept from him. He knew he should tell him, but… not yet. Not until he at least knew Devyn was okay. Or okay enough.
“You’re not hurt, are you? You don’t look injured,” he observed. “But yeah, I can imagine we have better food here than what you have back home.” Because why else would Devyn have been looking forward to coming back to Earth?
“If there’s anything I could help with on those lists, just let me know. I’m pretty good with my hands.”
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Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2022 10:04 pm
Devyn nodded but his mouth remained full for a few seconds more before he could answer. “Are you sure it isn’t too much trouble? You’ve been helping me since the moment I’ve met you. I’m going to have to figure out how to make it up to you.”
This time, he waited to take a bite, despite both hands being on the sandwich.
“The storms are pretty common these days. It wasn’t always like that, though. I had to wait for a break to repair the roof a bit, but I’m not hurt. I’m okay,” he said, but his lips pressed together briefly afterwards. He reconsidered the answer and clarified, “I’m getting there. Physically, I think I’m fine. Hungry. You’re right, Earth food beats out what I’ve got back home. I don’t think anything’s going to be growing for a while. Too much water, not enough sun. I’ve got that on my list of things to look into. I have to do a lot of research, I think. I’ve got some projects and I don’t even know where to begin. So I’ll take any help I can get. What about you, are you doing okay? How’s your shoulder?”
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Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2022 4:48 am
Michael took a bite of the sandwich as Deyvn spoke. He couldn’t start to imagine what kind of damage had been done to structures over a thousand years. Especially when there was no one else there to help.
“I wouldn’t have offered if I thought it was too much trouble,” Michael said quietly after he swallowed. “I went to school for engineering. Maybe I can give suggestions that you haven’t already thought of.” A new perspective was always good. Usually. Sometimes it was just a burden. He didn’t want to burden Devyn more than he already was.
Which was why he hesitated when the conversation circled back around to how he was doing. Another bite of his sandwich gave him a few more moments to think about what he wanted to say. He wasn’t used to having to hold himself back. He was usually trying to convince himself to be honest. It was easier to lie about things, or stretch the truth. Easier to say he was okay, because that’s usually what people wanted to hear. They didn’t want the knowledge of others’ troubles.
“My shoulder is healed, thanks to you,” he said, rotating it as though to prove that he was in good shape, but he couldn’t quite meet Devyn’s eye.
But Devyn had been honest with him. He could have left it at being okay. Why would Michael expect him to continue to be honest if he wouldn’t in return?
“I’m… not…--” Another hesitation, although he was pretty sure the words were enough. He forced himself to breathe and shook his head. “Our device we were working on before worked… but then things went wrong. Ganymede was kidnapped by the Negaverse. Dad… they took his starseed.”
It was all still very painful to think about, but the more Michael focused on something else, the better.
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Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2022 12:27 pm
Devyn had raised his sandwich to take another bite while he listened to Michael, but at the last part he froze. It took a second for it to sink in, but he closed his mouth and lowered the sandwich. His brows knitted together and when he finally finished processing exactly what he was saying, he frowned.
“I’m sorry, Michael.”
There was an egotistical part of himself that suggested that maybe if he’d been here he could have helped change the outcome of things, but he doubted Michael would have thought anything less of him for not being there. It didn’t change how he felt about it, though.
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
He didn’t know Beau very well but Devyn hadn’t had a bad opinion of him. They’d met briefly, and much of that night was a blur anyway, but it didn’t mean he wasn’t upset to hear that the Negaverse had taken his starseed. He didn’t know if it could be recovered, or if there was some way to get Ganymede, or if he–she, Paris, not Liesel anymore–had already been brought home.
Devyn knew the Negaverse was dangerous but that didn’t seem to intimidate him. Michael was smart, he knew that. Peter was, too, but Peter was also a Senshi. They’d been helping him since he got here, and Michael was still offering to help.
If there was anything he could do for them, of course he’d want to. There was plenty of room on his list to add a few things for someone else, too. Michael, especially.
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Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2022 12:57 pm
He felt guilty for telling Devyn what happened. He knew there wasn’t anything that could be done to bring his father back. Even if the starseed was recovered and sent to be reborn in the Cauldron, it wasn’t going to be Beau Gallo.
Michael shook his head, because troubling Devyn with this was bad enough, but he pressed his lips together after a moment, because he knew he would have asked Devyn the same thing. And if he didn’t like feeling helpless, then he could only imagine Devyn disliking the feeling as well.
“I don’t know,” he answered honestly. “We’re still trying to find information about Ganymede. Chris said a Senshi that recently escaped the Negaverse had met her in Negaspace. But that was… weeks ago now. We didn’t send out an alert for everyone because we didn’t want to cause a panic. There aren’t many around who can purify, so if word got out that Ganymede was a prisoner of the Negaverse…”
He doubted Oberon’s morale-boosting magic would be enough for all of them.
“I’m sorry,” he said, despite himself. And then when he realized it probably sounded weird for him to be apologizing, he shrugged and shook his head. “I wanted to give you a chance to eat and rest before bringing any of that up.”
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Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2022 2:57 pm
“If it might help, I’ll go out tomorrow and ask around. Responsibly,” he assured, because he really hadn’t come back to make trouble. “I’ve got people to look for on my list, too. If I’m doing the legwork, I might as well make the best of it. Two birds with one stone.”
He didn’t want Michael to apologize, there wasn’t any reason for it. He took another bite of the sandwich, more than he probably should have, just to get it out of the way. Michael couldn’t feel bad about the topic if the food was gone, so he’d just remove that from the picture.
It took three bites to finish it off, but he probably swallowed without chewing the last two.
“I’m mostly rested, too. Maybe I need a little nap, but. I’ll be good as new after that.” He hadn’t slept much on Alastor and it had taken its toll, but he’d long since learned what his bare minimum requirements were. He rested easier on Earth, he’d make up for what he’d lost on Alastor.
“Are you not sleeping well either or are you up late because you’re working on things?”
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