|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2022 1:09 pm
“If Princess didn’t let you win then… yeah, okay, you’re pretty fast,” Sessrumnir admitted as they made their way through the hall. Around them, green crystals glowed enough to light the path, but Sessrumnir had a feeling that, once upon a time, the lights were brighter. “I think I’ll pass on trying to race you, though.”
He knew Senshi and Knights had increased abilities, but he really expected his summon to, well, completely leave Devyn in the dust. She did not, and while it was a close call, the race ended with Devyn in the lead.
Princess didn’t seem too upset about it though. She kept bouncing as she trotted in front of them. She also seemed to know where Sessrumnir wanted to go, because she stopped outside of the room in question. The same one that he’d brought Ganymede to. One of the first rooms he’d visited when he arrived on Sessrumnir, so he assumed it must have been important.
The library itself was only part of the collection. All of the non-fiction seemed to have been collected in this room. Books about other worlds, star charts, orbs filled with twinkling stars, rolls of maps. It was a treasure trove of information.
And it was scattered around the place. Except for the neat piles Sessrumnir had stacked in an attempt to keep things from being stepped on.
“I tried cleaning up here, first. But I didn’t want to just throw books onto shelves. I guess it doesn’t matter as long as they’re off the floor,” he sighed and set his bag down once more, straightening back up with a book in his hand.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2022 1:54 pm
Alastor’s lips were pressed together, pursed and screwed tightly to one side of his face as he surveyed the state of the room. “Don’t let Princess trick you, she plays the long con,” he said, but something was just slightly off. “No doubt she’s let me win because the stakes were low. She’ll show her true colors when there’s a prize on the line.”
And yet, he spoke with fondness and affection, even if the state of the room seemed to be getting to him somewhat.
He exhaled, though, and pushed himself to enter the room so he could look around a bit.
“To be honest, for all the time I spent here, I don’t really know what books went where. Percy cleaned up after me. But I wasn’t really here to read. The libraries were more his thing.” And yet, he reached for a book as though it was one of his treasures, and carefully opened it. The spine seemed intact, and the pages were still tight. He flipped through them carefully.
The text was foreign to him, little figures he could barely recognize, but there were some diagrams and pictures that gave him an idea of the book’s intended purpose.
“A good idea to start here. I know there’s a system to organize them, but I can’t read this either. I promise that I know how to read, though. Maybe I’m just out of practice.” He sighed, not quite frustrated, and then looked to Sessrumnir for instruction. “If you don’t mind, I’m happy to start filling these in. I can grab a ladder and make sure the shelves are still stable up top and start putting things up there. Everything looks good from down here, anything on Jupiter has to be sturdy, but I’d hate to overburden one of these shelves and make a bigger mess. It’d take a while to build new ones if something happened to these. But at least it’s dry in here. I don’t know, I was worried it might be musty or humid. Was worried the books might have all been damaged or something.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2022 4:51 pm
“I was expecting it to be humid and damp too,” Sessrumnir admitted as he picked up a few more books from the floor to add to one of the piles he’d already put together.
“But everywhere along this hall, and even in the atrium, seems pretty temperate. They either built a good ventilation system that still works, or this room is far enough away from any water sources that it keeps the books dry. I wonder if that’s why they’ve got the libraries separated into smaller rooms,” he mused, although he didn’t seem to be thinking too hard about it. Just theorizing while he worked.
“Easier to keep things protected too, if a fire broke out or there was water damage. But yeah, that sounds like a good idea,” he agreed after another moment, looking around to find the ladder he knew was around.
Ah, it had been knocked off the rungs and was hidden under some of the piles of fallen books.
“Here, give me a hand?” he asked as he made his way over to the ladder to carefully start moving the books off of it, doing his best to be gentle with the ones that look like they’d been damaged. “The ones that look really bad, let’s put them to the side. If they’re missing pages, maybe I can make it a project to try and match them up and piece them back together. If they’re in one piece, we can put them up on the shelves,” he suggested, grabbing hold of one of the sides of the ladder as he waited for Devyn to do the same on the other side.
The ladder itself was solid wood with metal wheels on either end. One set was obviously supposed to go along the track, but looked like it might have been damaged.
“Be careful climbing this thing. It might not be able to hold much,” he warned with a frown. “But if the shelves need repairs, that’s fine. I helped build houses when I was in high school. Kind of like… a charity project in exchange for allowance money,” he explained, although when he said it like that...
No, it didn’t matter. Whether he actually used the money he got or spent it on others or gave it away, it didn’t matter now, and if Devyn judged him for one reason or another, that was fine.
Princess, took up residence on the couch she liked, and politely stayed out of their way as they worked.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2022 5:10 pm
Alastor moved to the other end, and carefully moved a few books. It felt wrong to stack them on the floor, but he trusted that they’d be safe there for the immediate time being. When the books had been moved enough to recover the ladder without damaging them, he took the other end and let Sessrumnir take the lead in maneuvering it.
“I’ll be careful, it’s not that far of a drop,” he assured. He’d fallen out of taller trees, a few feet wasn’t going to worry him. “I won’t make you worry about catching me or scooping me up off the ground.”
To be fair, he hadn’t actually used a ladder in Sessrumnir in–well, no, that wasn’t fair. Even when things had been what he remembered, if there was something he couldn’t reach, he’d just have picked Percy up so he could grab it. He wasn’t sure Michael would be so keen on the ritual, though, so the ladder seemed like a reasonable starting point instead.
“You helped build houses when you were still in school? And you can piece together books? You’re full of useful skills. You weren’t kidding when you said you were handy. We’ll have this place back in perfect shape in no time. What else did you do while you were in school?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2022 6:03 pm
“Kind of in school,” he answered as he carefully adjusted the ladder onto the rung at the top of the bookshelf once they had it standing upright.
“I was homeschooled. Dad traveled around a lot back then, and mom didn’t want to have me get too settled into lessons, only to start at a completely different place somewhere else, or have to relearn things. I did sports and things outside of school, so it’s not like I was completely alone. Had some pen pals I wrote to for a while, until I joined the military. Things got a little difficult to stay in touch with, and I lost contact with most of them after a while. What about you? I can imagine they kept you from learning things like normal kids,” he surmised, and stood to hold one side of the ladder.
He shook it a little, just to make sure it wasn’t going to jump off the track easily, and when he was relatively satisfied, he took a step back.
“Those sleeves seem like they get in the way easily. Need me to tie them back like your hair? I can put them in a big knot,” he gently teased, and stepped back far enough so he could give Princess a few pets as she thumped her tail against the dusty upholstery. He didn’t stay back for long, just long enough to make sure the ladder seemed to be holding and give Devyn some space to climb up. Once he was ready, he would start handing him books.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2022 6:15 pm
Devyn just laughed. “No,I can roll them up. Or power down. Appearances are very important on Alastor, but the outfits aren’t always practical. Here, look.”
He paused to fuss with his sleeves and moved closer to Sessrumnir to show him. “I’m glad they’re still here. I sewed some clips in. I can roll them up and just clip them in place. When I was a kid, I wasn’t so creative. Sometimes I just tore them off.”
As he spoke, he folded his sleeves–clearly a practiced skill–and carefully fastened them.
“Of course, I was chastised for that. Learned pretty early on that you have to suffer a little for the greater good.” He finished with one sleeve and moved to the next. “These sleeves have given me a hard time. When I was young, I awakened when I was seven or so, I’d worked my way up to Eternal pretty quickly. I wasn’t a big kid back then, I used to trip over these all the time. But, I grew into them. I didn’t have friends back then. I mean, unless you counted my advisors, but. I don’t. They were in charge of my education. When I was very young I used to go to school, but once I awakened my curriculum changed. Lot of books, lot of sitting still and listening to old men drone. In hindsight, it wasn’t miserable. I had to cram all of my general education in between politics and combat. Diplomacy and etiquette. Practically torture.”
He sighed dramatically and picked up a few books from the floor, carefully thumbing through them to make sure they seemed like they were in good condition. “I traveled a lot, so I had to be able to study on the go. I went to Arista often–that is, the town next to where I lived after I awakened. It’s half an hour down the road from the Hall. The mayor there gave me my best lessons. And he let me run around. I met a lot of people, but I didn’t really have friends. I lost contact with everyone from my village after I awakened.”
He collected six books and nestled them in the corner of his elbow before he placed his free hand on the side of the ladder and took the first step up. He waited, tested the weight, and then stepped up again. He was being careful, even if it seemed to be in his nature to approach with confidence and precision.
“After that, most of my ‘friends’ were just people trying to make a strong political ally or get something out of me. They were superficial friendships, for the most part. Diplomatic alliances under a different name.” He balanced carefully and brushed off the dust on the empty space on the shelf before he began to slot the books. “I was a temperamental kid, lashing out and running away. I was lonely. Frustrated. Got tired of being pushed into a mold I didn’t understand by people I didn’t know. You and your brothers are close, aren’t you? Is it because you were together when you were moving around?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2022 6:50 pm
Sessrumnir watched as Alastor rolled up his sleeves and pinned them in place, trying not to smile as he watched him because his next suggestion would have been to just tear them off. Maybe after a few centuries of wearing things like that, you get used to everything about them. Especially after starting off so young.
He watched and waited for Alastor to start putting the books on the shelf, before moving back over to start handing him up more books. It was nice to be able to clean up a bit more. Trying to do it all on his own was a daunting task, especially when there were usually other things that needed his time and attention. But trying to straighten up a little at a time seemed like a good way to clear his head. Maybe then they’d have better ideas of how to get Ganymede back.
“My relationship with my brothers…” he said thoughtfully, trailing off with a frown. “It’s complicated. I’m about seven years older than Chris, and fifteen years older than Peter. Chris was still in middle school when I left home. Ah… I was seventeen,” he amended, having to remind himself that Devyn wouldn’t know basic Earth terms or general ages for things. “Which means Peter was barely two. There was a war that had just started, and I was old enough to enlist. Young enough to not know any better. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time. I think my brothers looked up to me in a way I didn’t deserve. Once I was a civilian again, well… that’s when we were pulled into this war. I think they’ve both come to realize I’m not the great hero they idealized when they were younger.”
He paused to brush some dust off one of the books he’d picked up, before handing it to Alastor, half a smile finding its way onto his face, because he had a feeling he knew where Alastor’s story was going.
“It sounds like you just needed someone to see you for who you were. Not just a Senshi. Maybe someone who could relate to that feeling of being more than what you might have been ready for. Someone to give you a chance without any expectations or judgment. Someone you could talk to and confide in without them wanting anything in return,” he hummed thoughtfully as he passed him up the next book.
“How old were you when you met?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2022 6:37 am
Working with Sessrumnir was easy, and Alastor settled into a comfortable routine of accepting books and finding a good place for them on the higher shelves. Sometimes he stole a glance at Michael while he was talking, and there were certainly more questions that he was racking up but then he mentioned Percy, and–
How could he resist.
Distantly, he wondered if it was Michael’s way of deflecting from a conversation he didn’t want to have; Peter had mentioned enough about his time as a soldier that he knew to tread carefully. He didn’t press Michael for more but he was grateful for what he’d been given.
Including the opportunity to reminisce. “I was sixteen. He was fourteen. The youngest there, I think. He was the only person there within a decade of my own age, so naturally I gravitated towards him. Well, that, and he was cute. Everyone was flocking around him, I wanted to know what was so special. And he was cute. And a Knight! I used to go to all the conferences I could, trying to learn everything, trying to make allies, trying to make good impressions. So much work. It was never any fun, and most of the time I got frustrated. Sitting still was hard, and most of the time they’d go on stage and just drone. I hated it, but it was necessary. And I met him at one, so as far as I’m concerned, it was all worth it. He was all of those things and more. The old Sailor Alastor, the one before me, was bloodthirsty and ruthless. Wanted things his way. Sort of lost it at the end. But then, most of them did.”
He shrugged and accepted another book. “I think it was the pressure. Everyone watching you, waiting for you to make a mistake. Waiting for you to show weakness. Makes you paranoid. But I met Percy and he believed in me. Let me be me. He had this way of just–the pressure just disappeared. He helped me be the best version of myself. I’ve thought about it a lot, about who I might have been if I hadn’t met him. And, to be honest, I don’t think I’d have gotten to do all the things I did without his support.”
The smile on his face wasn’t sad. Nostalgic, maybe, but he only had good memories in that moment. He reached for another book. “What about you, have you been getting enough support”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2022 9:44 am
It was clear that Percy was Devyn’s favorite topic, and Sessrumnir couldn’t help but smile in amusement as he easily opened up to tell stories about him. Meeting when they were still in their teens must have been nice. Then again, he also knew that Percy didn’t live much more than a decade after that. He must have made a very strong impression on Devyn to be so precious to him, even after centuries passed.
And when Devyn turned the questioning back on him, Michael nearly laughed. He didn’t, but he could have if he wasn’t doing his best to keep his thoughts to himself.
“I get plenty of support,” he said simply, and left it at that.
In reality, he didn’t know how to answer that question. Supporting himself and trying to work through his problems seemed so normal that he didn’t question it any more. If he was lonely or miserable, then that was just how things were. It was bad enough that Peter didn’t think he was stable enough to live by himself, or whatever it was his brother thought. He had a failed marriage for a myriad of reasons. He had very few people he would consider friends.
So it wasn’t that he was being necessarily dishonest about his answer as much as it was that he didn't know what was the right amount of support he was supposed to expect, or even accept. His parents had always tried to be supportive, but they also knew that he liked his space. Because it was easier to avoid talking about how he felt when he kept his distance.
“What was so cute about him? I mean, I’ve seen his picture, seen memories which… is super weird. You’d expect memories to be from Percy’s eyes, but it’s like looking at a movie. I don’t know how that works but… magic, I guess,” he said as he passed up another book.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2022 2:34 pm
Devyn tilted his head to the side just a bit as he accepted the next book. Magic was the easy answer, he wouldn’t pretend to understand all the things in the universe. Especially these days. He knew what a movie was, even if it was still new to him.
“Everything was cute,” he began.
Past tense was still difficult. He’d had to practice it while he was on his world.
It still didn’t feel right, but at least he wasn’t slipping up so much anymore.
“The way his brows would push together when he was solving a problem, the way his lips would purse when he was deep in thought, the way he smiled and carried himself. I could see that he was trying to make a good impression. I’d been in his shoes before, only he seemed sweeter. I didn’t want anyone to take advantage of him. I thought it would be unfair when he showed up with such good intentions and such a big heart. You could see it, he had that sort of innocent vulnerability about him. I didn’t want him to get hurt. It wasn’t not altruistic, but I won’t lie–I was bored, I was lonely. He was different, and new. And fun. And sweet. From the moment I met him, I knew I wanted to protect that. People aren’t like that on Alastor. Felt like everyone was always trying to stab each other in the back. But I never worried about that with Percy. And he wasn’t just cute when he was young. He stayed that way his whole life.”
A wistful sigh, another book placed. “The way his hair looked in the morning. The way he’d fall asleep in a book, or how he could just talk nonstop about whatever he was learning about, or the way he’d get ink smudged on him because he was working so hard. He was so honest. So considerate. So hopeful. Hardworking and passionate. Good heart. We wrote often. Daily, sometimes more than that. And we made schedules around what conferences we could ‘accidentally’ bump into each other at. We once went to a conference on compost just to have an excuse to spend a few hours together afterwards. I was smitten. But, I suppose that’s young love. I didn’t have a type, just him. Apparently, he didn’t have a type, either. Just me. So that worked out pretty well for the both of us. You know, after four years of dancing around each other before we actually talked about it.”
He adjusted himself on the ladder a bit so he could slide it over nearly a foot to the left so he could continue filling the shelves; he climbed back up quickly and waited for the next book. “What about you, do you have a type?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2022 5:06 pm
The way Devyn talked about Percy made it more and more obvious just how much he loved him. Michael knew that, of course, but there was something about his tone, something about the way Devyn’s lips pulled at the corners as he thought about what he wanted to say next. He could feel his own heart ache, and he took a moment to rub at his chest while Devyn worked on getting back on the ladder.
Except he wasn’t Percy. And he would never want someone that special to be replaced, starseed or not. Maybe his own starseed knew that Devyn was there and just out of reach. It could explain why his chest felt tight every time he cautioned a glance up at Devyn as he worked on putting the books away. He was grateful for Devyn’s help, of course. Maybe that was why he felt this way.
“I don’t have a type,” he said, just as straightforward as his last comment about himself.
Again, it wasn’t really a lie, he just didn’t elaborate. Did he have a type? He preferred when someone wasn’t too much younger than himself. Older was different, but even then, Marissa was just a decade difference. And there was nothing between them beyond meeting up casually, to help stave off the loneliness or boredom.
Others he’d been with…? He thought he knew why back then, but now the memories seemed like they kept circling back to all of his own poor decisions. And he knew Devyn wouldn’t want to talk about all of that, so he worked on gathering up some more books to pass to him.
“Four years is a pretty long time. You didn’t think he felt the same way about you?” he wondered, especially if they were teenagers, not knowing what they were doing. He was surprised they didn’t throw their confessions at each other and hope for the best. Or maybe that was why they didn’t.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2022 9:26 pm
Michael was stingy when it came to giving information about himself, but Alastor didn’t seem particularly bothered about it. He just noticed it. And the conversation was still easy. There were probably parts about his life that he might have been uncomfortable talking about, but meeting Percy was never going to be one of them.
Alastor laughed, maybe a bit at himself. “In hindsight, it was silly to wait. I regretted it for a long time.” Not immediately. Just. After he’d lost Percy.
“But we still spent so much time together during it. We were always in contact. I told myself I could be happy just to have him in my life. That it was enough. And, it might have been. But we were always walking on eggshells. His father was very strict, he was always worried about impressing him and keeping him happy. Percy had a lot of weight on his shoulders. He was young still, and he was worried that if someone found out they’d try to stop us from seeing each other. I mean, we couldn’t even stand too close to each other when we went out in public, and that was before we’d talked about, you know. The feelings. But I did–to be fair–the last Sailor Alastor had made a bit of a mess of things. On world and off. And every one before him, the same. I didn’t want to conquer worlds, I wanted to focus on making Alastor better. Naturally, if I had been up to no good, cozying up to the keeper of all this information would have been clever.”
He looked around the library briefly before he continued, “All of this, and more, would have been a treasure trove of resources to someone planning a war. But, I didn’t know who he was when I first met him. He could have been anyone. Or no one. But we started talking and I was just interested. He was so sincere. When I was young, people tried to take advantage of my naivety. But, I could stand up for myself. I was worried he wouldn’t be able to. I wanted to protect him. From myself, too. Or, the idea of myself. I wasn’t bad. I mean, not to him. I’d never hurt him. But, I was still a little rough around the edges, sometimes. I did pick fights. But I also won them. You can’t let people think you’re weak. And Percy wouldn’t pick fights, so I wanted to be strong for him, too.” Oh, but all of that was a whole other story. Not anything he minded telling, but it was easy to get off track, and Devyn liked to talk. And he hadn’t had company who wanted to listen in a long time.
“I didn’t know he liked me,” he concluded, “There were times when I suspected, when I hoped, but I was afraid of misreading the signs. If I confessed and he didn’t feel the same way? What if he got nervous being around me? What if it changed our friendship? I just wanted him to be happy. Although, I suppose, in some ways, I was courting him the whole time. We just didn’t call it that or say anything about it. We were just being ‘good friends’. Oh, until there was a misunderstanding. I must have planned a hundred different times to tell him, but something always went wrong. Something went wrong that day, too. He was supposed to come stay with me for a bit, and he overheard a conversation. I hope you get that memory, actually. I don’t remember exactly what was said, but he heard completely the wrong thing. I was preparing for a fight–a match, you know. I had challengers all the time, so it wasn’t a big deal for me. Percy thought I was getting married. And I found him while he was lamenting, so we talked about it. You know, if he hadn’t overheard and been so upset about it, I might not have said anything then, either. I was worried about losing him. I’d rather not say something and keep what we had than say something and lose it. He was the only person I’d ever had feelings for, so it’s not like I was experienced at confessing or anything. I was also the first Sailor Alastor in at least five incarnations to get married, so it was very much a big deal. They made too many enemies and were usually killed before their, I don’t know, mid twenties? Maybe a little later. I was committed to being the longest lived Alastor, but, to be honest, I think I overshot it a little bit.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2022 9:37 am
“Just a little,” he agreed as he waited to hand Alastor the next book. They’d managed to clear a decent amount of floor space in a short amount of time, and once the books filled the higher shelves, it would be easier to clean up what was left.
“I’m sure he would have been proud of you, for surviving this long. And not giving up,” Michael said as he glanced over to Princess, as though wanting her approval for the comment. “It’s difficult to move forward when a piece of your life is missing. But if you didn’t survive, you wouldn’t have been able to share all of these stories about him.”
And Michael appreciated the stories. It was easier for him to try and understand his own feelings by listening to Devyn talk. He felt as though he understood Percy a little better with every new piece of information he learned. About Devyn, too. He could understand wanting to protect others from himself. Sometimes things were just… difficult.
“So you didn’t know he liked you… but you were meeting up after conferences about compost just to spend time with each other. Dev…” Michael sighed, but he seemed amused by how silly the two of them must have been. “And he never did anything that made you think he was interested before getting upset about you maybe getting married. Were you even seeing anyone else?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2022 10:16 am
Percy would have been proud of him, Devyn knew that. He’d always been proud of him. Always trusted him and believed in him. And, Michael was right. If Devyn hadn’t survived this long, he wouldn’t have been able to tell everyone about Percy. Maybe he would have just been trying to piece together memories, too.
He could have been sad about it, but he couldn’t find it in his heart to drift into any realm of misery right now. He could smile, and laugh at himself instead.
It was a different, time, a thousand years ago.
“No! I wasn’t interested in anyone else. Whenever I could make free time, I was trying to find a way to come visit, or to get him to come over. Don’t get me wrong, I tried to take him on, well I don’t know if you could call them dates. We never called them that. But they were, in hindsight. I did want to woo him. I was trying to find ways to make him fall in love with me. I had no idea, really. And he didn’t know, either. We were so preoccupied with trying to make sure we didn’t mess up what we had that we missed all the signs. Although, we–”
He paused.
No, he stopped talking entirely. He stopped breathing, stopped moving. He was reaching to put a book on the shelf and froze with it half extended, and stared at an empty space on the shelf.
His hair was up, it was impossible to hide the way his ears turned pink, unless you wanted to trust that it was just the shadows. His mouth closed and he pressed his lips tighter together and the color spread just slightly across his cheeks before he turned to face Michael. He still hadn’t put the book away, but he hooked his arm around the ladder so he was at least comfortable.
“There may have been some physical affection prior to any sort of confession,” he said slowly. “But it was strictly educational. So there was really no indication at all until he actually said something. It took me by surprise. Pleasantly by surprise, you know. Percy wasn’t very good with secrets.”
Except, Devyn still looked as though he might have had some sort or revelation about the whole thing, because if Michael did have access to all of Percy’s memories–
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2022 5:04 pm
Sessrumnir’s eyebrows raised in curiosity as Alastor paused on the ladder. Even in the dim lighting, it was clear that his cheeks and ears had flushed a bit. He seemed to have the same revelation as well, because he opened his mouth in silent acknowledgment, and had to bite his lip to keep himself from grinning in amusement.
“I see,” he said, and was tempted to leave it at that. Maybe to tease Devyn a little. Or maybe he was just trying to decide what he would do if certain things decided to filter through his memories.
“Strictly educational,” he hummed in amusement, repeating the words just as Devyn said them, although with obvious doubt.
“I’m guessing those are the memories you’d like me to close my eyes for?” he asked, teasing maybe just a little. Something so personal being put on display against Devyn’s will was, well… Michael didn’t think he would be comfortable if anyone had access to seeing what he did for… education.
He felt bad, of course. He didn’t want Devyn to suddenly feel uncomfortable around him, so he sighed softly and shook his head as he held up another book to maybe coax Devyn into continuing to work.
“I’m sure I won’t see anything Percy doesn’t want me to see.” He didn’t know that for certain, but he had a feeling that it was more to it than just random memories. Some of them lead him to Princess, after all.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
