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 Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2022 8:34 pm
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Things were settling into a sort of normal, but it still felt like comfortable normal was a long way off. The burden of finding a new place to live had suddenly been lifted, and for the first time since their house was destroyed, Oliver had slept through the night. Not at the new house; there was still a lot of work to be done there.
They’d parked the moving truck in the garage and marveled at how much space they had, and even though they’d spent a day and a half cleaning, they had still barely scratched the surface of unpacking. And, they were still sleeping over at Michael’s.
They needed to go shopping for furniture, but between everything else, they’d all really just decided that they should take a day off. Sort of.
An extended morning break before they got back to work.
Elliot had taken immediate advantage of it; he and Atticus had finished breakfast and then decided to go for a walk in the park, and it was early enough that everyone figured there wouldn’t be any reason to worry about monsters. And, with Atticus’ disguise being a permanent fix, there was less to worry about. There was a game today, not one of Elliot’s, so it seemed like a good excuse to go spend some time with Atticus, get some fresh air, and take breaks to enjoy the food trucks.
Devyn did a good job relaxing for about ten minutes after they left. He and Michael had been sitting with Asher and Oliver, and he’d done his best to stay still. He shifted positions twice, and settled with his hands on his knees. His face was passive, calm. He looked like he could have sat there with the three of them talking for hours.
The necklace gave him away. At first, it was just a slightly faster pulse. And then it was a little faster. And then a little stronger.
His breathing was even and he looked calm. Outwardly, neither Asher nor Oliver had picked up Devyn’s rapidly growing agitation. It wasn’t at them! He wasn’t mad in the slightest. He was even asking them what they were planning on doing, what he could help with. He seemed like he genuinely cared about what they said–and, he did.
He just had a lot of energy building up rapidly. The past few days had been good for him working out his energy, but they hadn’t powered up since the night the Reids had been attacked. He’d helped clean, helped move things, help sift through the debris of the house to find whatever they could salvage. He hadn’t been for a run in almost a week.
“But we might just get some comforters and pillows and camp out in the living room,” Oliver was saying. “I don’t want to start buying furniture until the insurance is sorted out. But I like the floor in there, and the room doesn’t have to get repainted. So it might be a good place to start there. We’re going to do some deep cleaning today, I think.” He looked at Michael as if asking for his approval; Asher was easy going and nodded along just slightly as he sipped at his drink. If he wasn’t completely healed, he’d done a good job of hiding it. He seemed ready to get started but he looked very comfortable leaning back in his seat and sipping at another cup of coffee.
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Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2022 8:45 pm
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Even without the necklace, Michael could tell that Devyn was getting restless. He knew he didn’t like sitting around, but he was being so polite, as always. Michael sipped at his second cup of coffee and tried not to smile behind the rim as he watched Devyn out of the corner of his eye.
It was probably mean to expect him to stay there while Asher and Oliver relaxed.
“You should go ahead and start looking at furniture anyway,” Michael said with a shrug. He was trying not to throw all of his money at them, but it was difficult. And they were almost as stubborn as he was.
“But deep cleaning would be good. The hardware store has those carpet cleaners for rent. We could also hire someone to come in and do everything in a day, you know,” he pointed out. “Asher should be careful about overdoing it with his injury.”
Michael knew there was nothing wrong with them wanting to do everything by themselves, but it could be one less stress on their shoulders if they let him help.
“Everything okay?” he asked after a moment, leaning closer to Devyn so he could ask, hopefully without being overheard. “Too much energy?”
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Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2022 8:59 pm
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Asher gave him an exasperated look but offered no protest, and Oliver was visibly worrying about him as soon as Michael said something. “We’ve never hired anyone before, that’s so much extra. I can do it.”
His lips were pursed as he mulled it over. Briefly, he and Asher were looking at each other as if they were trying to figure out who would break first, but Michael’s attempt at discretion was missed by neither of them.
Even if his words had been quiet and difficult to make out, they’d both noticed how he leaned closer to Devyn.
How Devyn instinctively leaned closer to him. How Devyn seemed to relax under Michael’s attention. The furniture was suddenly far less interesting.
The necklace betrayed Devyn’s emotions; he startled briefly, like he’d forgotten that it could pick up on even little things like that. He should have known. Did know. Michael was very used to the normal, steady pace of his heart and the general demeanor at which Devyn usually carried himself, so it was probably easy for him to tell when something was amiss under the surface.
“Too much,” he agreed. He rubbed at his arm briefly and pulled up the sleeve; his skin was covered in goosebumps so he rubbed absentmindedly.
He had a few scars on his arm, most notably one over the back of his forearm, but he didn’t seem the least bit shy about it. Oliver had seen it earlier while Devyn was helping and had tact enough to know not to ask, but now it caught his eye again.
Probably because he was already curious about Devyn. About who Devyn was to Michael.
“I’m fine, though. I’m good. Should I step out for a moment?” Devyn asked, equally quiet. “I’m enjoying the conversation. Just,” he shrugged, and rubbed at his arm again. He wasn’t looking at either of the Reids, and somehow managed to not to seem rude in his private discussion with Michael.
Maybe it was because when he was looking at Michael it was with so much trust and respect that Oliver couldn’t help but shift in his seat to watch the two a bit more carefully.
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Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2022 9:19 pm
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Devyn seemed to instantly relax under Michael’s touch and for the few seconds that they’d had contact he had even managed to calm just slightly. It was short lived; the energy was only going to keep building.
Michael knew him very well.
He gave him a look, playful and amused, to match Michael’s, and his smile remained in place as he nodded. “All right, I will. I won’t be long, I’ll stay out of trouble.”
Which mostly just meant, ‘I won’t go too far so I don’t get lost and need you to come find me’.
“Sorry,” he said to the Reids, “I’ll be back soon.”
“Oh, go ahead, take your time,” Oliver said, with a natural enthusiasm. “Have fun.”
Devyn smiled politely to them, but as he took a step back his hand rested on Michael’s shoulder–briefly!–and then slipped out of the room.
Asher sipped at his coffee. The front door opened, closed.
They both turned to Michael.
Oliver seemed like he’d been holding his breath and had just been waiting for a chance to ask, “Are you sure you two are just friends?”
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Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2022 9:05 pm
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Oliver’s brows raised on his face and he squinted at Michael; even Asher looked a bit doubtful. He had the courtesy to hide his smile behind his cup as he needlessly sipped again.
“Well, there are lots of things you could be. Asher and I, for example, are married.” Oliver leaned forward a bit, clearly making himself more comfortable. “It’s just, I mean–he came out of nowhere, you never told us about your handsome friend from college. And then we get here and he’s volunteered his room for Atticus and he’s staying with you. Which is fine, I know we’ve put you out a bit.”
But Michael could afford to buy his friends houses, he could have afforded to rent him an apartment if he’d wanted Devyn to just have some place to stay.
“But you know him very well, I saw that.” He nodded to where Devyn had just been sitting. “It’s okay if you’re just friends, I just thought–well, you know. We’re already dipping into all the other secrets, the whole Knight thing and magic and all. I just wondered. I mean, we care about you, of course we want to know what’s going on.”
And they were nosy, but it was only because they cared so much.
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Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2022 9:15 pm
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Michael had his mug lowered down to rest on his knee, and he stared at it rather than lifting his gaze up to meet Oliver’s or Asher’s.
It had nothing to do with them, and everything to do with him being rather private about his life. He supposed he couldn’t blame them, especially after he’d more or less left them in the dark about Caspian and, well, after that it was no wonder why they were curious.
“I care about him,” he admitted, because that part was probably obvious. “But it’s complicated.”
Wasn’t that what everyone said when they didn’t want to talk about things? It did sound like he was brushing them off, and that wasn’t what he wanted to do. It was complicated. Or maybe he was just making it more complicated than he needed to. Maybe it really was as simple as being more than friends.
“He’s a lot older than he looks. Like, a thousand years older.” They were right that all of the secrets were going to come out. He had to trust his instinct that Devyn wouldn’t mind that he told them this about him.
Michael shook his head before the questions started, because even he didn’t know how it worked.
“There are others like him. As if they were frozen in time. Not many that we know of yet. Senshi from other Worlds who were blocked from all contact from the outside until they started being called to Earth. I don’t know how we ended up crossing paths but…”
He paused to place a hand over his chest, and maybe placed it over the orb he wore as well.
“A thousand years ago my starseed-- my soul… belonged to a man named Percy. He was also Knight of Sessrumnir. He and Devyn had been married. So… it’s complicated.”
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Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2022 9:31 pm
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“Oh,” Oliver said, and then found himself stunned into temporary silence. Asher blinked as he processed it all, but he finally nodded and admitted, “That is complicated.”
Probably one of the few uses of the phrase where it was actually appropriate and acceptable, and not worth teasing him about. Much. Especially because he already looked a bit uncomfortable about it.
But, Michael hadn’t lied about it. Hadn’t tried to deflect or come up with some other story to cover the truth.
“I think it’s sweet,” Oliver finally said. “I mean, I have a lot of questions, that does sound very complicated. But I mean–it’s sweet. That you took him in and you’re taking care of him. He’s not a human, though? Is that–does he have a disguise like Atticus did, or…? I’m sorry, is that rude? I don’t know–he’s an alien?”
It wasn’t the strangest thing he’d heard in the past few days but he shifted positions and leaned forward with visible interest.
“How is he so old? What’s he been doing all that time? I mean, he looks like you two could have gone to college together.” Unless that was more magic disguise, too? There was so much he wanted to ask, and even Asher–who was usually so good at knowing when not to pry–looked like he was trying to remind himself to be patient and not ask everything all at once.
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Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2022 9:54 pm
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“Oh,” Oliver said again. “...The boys are always saying he has such good stories.” A thousand years was probably enough time to come up with some good ones. If they hadn’t trusted Michael so completely it might have been difficult to swallow such information, but they were getting used to being astounded and it was easier to just roll with it. Even Oliver was doing a bit better, and given the slew of bad news they’d had, something like this wasn’t even upsetting.
Perplexing, sure, but. Not upsetting.
“That’s so wild, though. I can’t imagine it. I don’t think I’d want to live that long. Not without my family. I couldn't do it,” Oliver said; he shrugged, and Asher just squeezed him and pulled him a little closer before he could continue, “But how wild is that? In this whole universe, on this whole planet, you still found him? He seems sweet. A little weird, but I don’t even mean that in a mean way. Totally normal weird, I just thought it was because he was an artist. Nothing against artists! Don’t tell Atticus I said that, it’s not an insult. Asher’s an artist,” he said, and placed his hand over his husband’s chest. “I think musicians are just as weird as artists. It’s that whole creative gene. I love you,” he said. He kissed Asher’s cheek, but Asher only laughed and shook his head.
He finally started asking some questions of his own. “Did he know about your starseed when you found him? How did you two really meet?”
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Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2022 9:59 pm
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“He made a promise he wanted to keep. It’s difficult to explain, but as a Senshi he’s tied to his World. No matter who he’s reborn as, he will always be a Senshi, awakened or not. Knights are a little different. Especially since Wonders needed to be protected, someone else was usually trained to be the Knight. Percy and his family were from Earth. And although his family was favored for certain Wonders on Jupiter, it wasn’t a guarantee that Sessrumnir would have picked him.”
Michael knew he was probably giving them more information than they wanted, or needed, to hear, so he cleared his throat and tried to stay on topic. He offered Oliver a little smile to show he wasn’t going to tell Atticus anything that he might think was insulting, although how anyone could think that Oliver intended to cause them harm, he didn’t know.
“Remember how I said I can feel those creatures and Negaverse agents? I can feel our own side as well. Devyn was, uh… as a Senshi… in a coffee shop Peter and I were at. I made a comment to Peter that someone needed to tell him to power down, but I didn’t want to deal with it, so Peter talked to him on his own. He ended up inviting him back to the house. We found out he was looking for, well… his husband and others that had passed away long ago. He’d repressed those memories for so long that he didn’t know what was real and what was a fantasy. So no, he didn’t know about my starseed. Not until after he found out the truth that he was erasing a thousand years of his memories. He left for a while. Went back to Alastor to make sure everything was okay, and then came back. I told him then. Dad told me I should be honest with him, before he died,” he added with a small shrug.
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Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2022 10:25 pm
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Oliver and Asher each made themselves comfortable as they listened; even if Michael strayed somewhat from the actual questions, they were very interested in everything he had to say. It wasn’t that Michael wasn’t usually honest with them, it’s just that this was a different type of honesty. The secrecy before hadn’t been malicious, it had been to keep him safe, to keep them safe. They understood that, they weren’t upset by that.
This was something honest and–well, if Oliver had to describe it, he’d have said it was almost vulnerable, the way Michael was opening him up. It was something he couldn’t say he’d really seen before, so naturally it was easy to associate that with Devyn.
A strange, ancient alien who was married to Michael’s past life, and who had somehow arrived on Earth to meet Michael again.
He didn’t know if he should say it was romantic, Michael said it was complicated. He didn’t know if he should say it sounded like destiny, but he didn’t think Michael would have appreciated the idea of some preordained fate.
“He’s really lucky that he ran into you here,” Oliver said instead. “Before any of those monsters found him. I’m sorry to hear about all of that. It sounds like it must have been difficult. I can’t imagine.” He hoped he’d never had to, but he knew he wasn’t anywhere near as important as any of these Knights or Senshi. But Elliot was. He’d been chosen.
Oliver had mixed fear and pride in all of it, but he trusted Michael was going to look after Elliot–he always had, anyway.
He couldn’t imagine it was easy for Michael to have to be the bearer of bad news, or to have to carry this burden for so long. Oliver looked at him with affection and the idea of teasing him about Devyn had somewhat faded. For now.
“Are you doing okay with all of this? I mean–do you, you know.” Oliver hesitated and then shrugged. “He seems like he really cares about you. I haven’t seen you open up to anyone in a while, so…”
Oliver fell into something like a nervous quiet, so Asher took over. “Are you happy with things the way they are now or are you thinking, you know, you have a kid together. Complicated or not, what do you want out of it all?”
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Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2022 5:43 pm
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“Oh…” Michael froze and then shifted uncomfortably. This wasn’t the first time it was mentioned how he had a kid now. And he didn’t have the heart to point out that Atticus took Devyn’s name, so technically Atticus was his kid, not Michael’s. But he couldn’t imagine not wanting to keep Atticus (and Elliot) safe. He didn’t ever want Atticus to think he was unwanted.
“Oh, I mean… I don’t know,” he ended up saying because that helped clarify everything. He winced, knowing how vague and unhelpful he was being when his friends were obviously just curious and trying to help.
“I mean. Yeah, Devyn and Atticus seem happy, so I’m happy. Dev is good at caring about others, so I guess it’s easy to feel more open to talking about things. I guess.”
He could still feel his face warming. He wasn’t sure what they were getting at, but he had a feeling he knew. Which was why he cleared his throat and shifted on the couch again.
“I want to make sure he’s safe. He’s been alone for so long, so he’s been lonely and I don’t mind giving him a place to stay. Especially now with Atticus. And, yeah, he cares about me, but he’s also still mourning and in love with his husband so that just makes things more complicated--”
Michael clamped his mouth shut. What was he even talking about? Why was he bringing that up when they hadn’t even asked about things like love?
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Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2022 6:20 pm
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Maybe they should have been more blunt because they were definitely asking about love, and in a way it was sort of cute to see Michael clam up and get embarrassed about all of it, but still. He’d worked so hard and done so much for them already, he deserved to be spared teasing–especially when it seemed like it actually was a complicated enough subject matter that he was a little nervous. Or shy. Or embarrassed? Or worried?
“You’re good at caring about others, too,” Oliver said gently.
“El, Oliver and I. Atticus, Devyn.” The only person Michael wasn’t good at taking care of was probably himself. Asher offered a reassuring smile, though; they could pick and pry but neither he nor his husband were going to push him into the realm of discomfort if they could help it.
“It sounds like he really needed someone to look after him. Losing someone that important must have been hard. I don’t think people have to fall out of love to fall in love again. Does that make sense? I mean, obviously I’m not talking about cheating or anything,” he assured quickly, but the thought really hadn’t seemed like it crossed Asher’s mind at all. “I just mean, you know. It’s not hopeless. You can love and love again. It doesn’t ever have to stop. If something happened to me, I’d want Asher to fall in love again.”
Asher turned to face him and gave him a look, not unkind but somewhat wary. He couldn’t imagine it, obviously, and it was a topic that he didn’t seem particularly fond of, but Oliver continued, “Of course I’d want to be the one here with him, but if I’m gone, I don’t want him to be lonely. I want someone else to love and appreciate and respect him, and help him through the hard times. Falling in love with someone else wouldn’t mean he loved me any less. Oh, but. You can’t fall in love so much that your soul wants to leave mine for them. Or your starseed or whatever. You have to be reborn with me, I don’t know if I’ll make it in any life without you.”
The worry melted from Asher’s face somewhat and he smiled fondly at his husband before just pulling him a little closer. “Well, that makes sense. Must be easier if you’ve got the same starseed, though. You don’t ever have to worry about competition.” He looked at Michael with an apologetic smile, though. “You can tell us to stop if it’s too much. We don’t have to talk about any of this if it’s making you uncomfortable, Michael. We just want you to be happy. Do you want us to see if Devyn’s just being friendly with you or figure out if it might be more than that?”
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