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 Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2023 8:56 am
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Oliver left the Reid house in good hands; Asher was teaching the boys how to make dinner and the kitchen was crowded enough that he knew he wouldn’t be missed for a few moments. He’d texted Michael that he wanted to borrow him for a moment–just to make sure that he didn’t show up to their house unannounced.
He’d knocked, and when they’d let him in he seemed a little more skittish than usual. He smiled, went through the basic chit chat, and then–finally–managed to work up the strength to talk to them about what he’d actually come over for. They were standing in the kitchen; he’d brought warm cider he insisted they try. Devyn was halfway through his cup already and had complimented it twice so far.
Oliver’s glass was untouched, but he held it in both hands.
“So the Negaverse Agent, the one I told you about before. Retzian,” he clarified, as if there were more than one. He had to clear his throat and try to sound more confident when he was talking about her.
He knew, in this whole situation, he was absolutely the least qualified to be doing anything on his own. The boys might have been younger, but they had magic. And Asher was more level headed and reliable and strong.
“I ran into her again. She seemed–well, a little off, to be honest. Not in a bad way. She was talking about wanting to, um. Corrupt this Senshi? But it didn’t sound–I mean, she sounded a little hopeless. Like a teenager with a very bad crush. Like she was trying to come up with ways to set her up. And I sort of panicked–she asked me what I’d do, and I floundered a bit. And accidentally made plans to meet up with her to talk about it again. I just–well, I know you two, with all the…”
He would have gestured with his hand if he wasn’t clutching the glass so desperately; instead, he just nodded in their general direction. “I thought I should talk to you first before I showed up.”
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Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2023 9:00 am
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Michael had been sipping his cider slowly, patiently waiting for Oliver to bring up the reason why he wanted to talk to them. The cider was excellent, of course. Atticus gushed about it every time he had some when he was over at the Reids, so Michael expected it to be good. And Oliver tended to put his whole heart into everything.
He knew it must have been bothering Oliver, because he hadn’t had any of his cider to drink. It was as though he’d brought it over as a way to break the ice, and sure enough he brought up that Negaverse Agent that had been stalking him.
It was dangerous, of course, for Oliver to be involved with the Negaverse at all. But it was better that he played nice, lest this one decide to follow him home and destroy this house too. Michael frowned behind the glass, and lowered it only when he was sure that Oliver had finished speaking for the moment. He didn’t want to make Oliver feel like he couldn’t talk to them or expect to be cut off. It was better he get everything off his chest while he could, before he clammed up for whatever reason.
“Did you want us to be nearby in case she’s up to no good?” he offered, because of course he wanted Oliver to be safe. He didn’t like that this agent seemed off. It could mean nothing, or it could lead to some rash actions.
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Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2023 9:01 am
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Over the years, Michael had plenty of time to get to know Oliver. He was easy to read despite his efforts to imply otherwise. He could put up a front for his classrooms, but anyone who spent too much time with him could probably pick up on his nervous habits.
He had a great need for approval, and he constantly doubted himself and his own judgment. Asher was usually there to reassure and support him; he gave him stability when he felt like he had none.
Michael was probably his best friend outside of Asher, and while Devyn was still new to him–comparatively–he liked him, too. Mostly, because he took good care of Atticus and Michael, and Oliver cared very much for both of them. Devyn could have been intimidating on his own–tall, and handsome, and fierce in a way that Oliver knew he couldn’t explain if he tried. He liked to think he was a pretty good judge of if someone was dangerous, and there was so much about Devyn that kept him on guard.
And yet, he knew how gentle he was. Or how gentle he forced himself to be.
Oliver had been staring at Devyn’s knuckles when he spoke; he was harder to read than Michael. When he mentioned the Negaverse agent, Devyn ran one finger along the glass. Oliver saw the way his grip changed, even if it was subtle.
His eyes flicked to Michael when he spoke, and he was certain he’d seen a frown–a look of disapproval?–from behind the glass. No, he was reading too much into it, probably. He trusted Michael and he trusted his judgment, and he’d never felt scrutinized or looked down on when he’d been around him. Everything was just in his head, and his own thoughts were temporarily blurred as he tried to dust away the doubt.
He knew better.
“I don’t know,” he admitted, and knew he wasn’t doing himself any favors with the glass. It felt like it was about to slip from his grip, so he set it on the counter and brushed his hands off on his sweater. “She’s been nice to me. She talks to me like we’re old friends. If she wasn’t in the Negaverse, I think I’d like her very much. I don’t feel like she’s dangerous, but I take all your warnings to heart. I don’t want to do or say the wrong thing, I don’t want to draw attention to me.” To his family, to his friends. Oliver was careful.
“I thought I was just being nice to make sure I didn’t upset her or give her a reason to start harassing us, but–I can’t put my finger on it. She just wants to go sit down and talk. I don’t know why, I’m hardly even a good listener. Asher would have been the better choice, he’s good at listening and giving advice. She said she wanted to meet him, but I think I want him to stay home. I don’t know. I feel like–I could be wrong–but I feel like she’s more interested in this Senshi than she is the Negaverse. So I don’t know, does that mean there’s a chance that she wants to get out? Should I say something? Should I tell her she should try to leave or is that too suspicious? I mean–she sounded absolutely head over heels in love with this Senshi. And she was talking about–would I leave everything behind if I loved someone like that–and then she said she wanted to bring someone over, but she was the one who sounded like she wanted approval to leave everything behind to pursue someone, and–maybe I’m reading too much into it. It was happening so fast. But–I don’t know. I don’t want to make a mistake. I’m trying to be safe. Does this make sense? I can start over, I’ve scrambled some of it up, I’m sure.”
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Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2023 9:06 am
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Of course Michael was worried about Oliver. Worried about Asher and Elliot. He didn’t want Atticus to get into trouble with the Negaverse again, either.
Without knowing all of the details, it was difficult for Michael to decide what was the best course of action. He didn’t want to jump in and make things worse, but he also didn’t want anyone to be in danger.
The Senshi in particular seemed to be in the most danger, if this Negaverse agent was thinking about trying to bring them into the Negaverse.
But before Michael said anything else on the subject, he carefully set his cup down and took the necessary steps to cross the distance to where Oliver was standing and wrapped his arms around him in a tight hug.
“Breathe. You’re okay. I’m glad you are okay. You’re very gentle, Oliver. You make people feel like they can talk about things that bother them and make them feel like they’re worth being heard. So of course she wants to talk to you about her problems,” Michael tried to reassure him. He wasn’t as good about it as Asher, but he knew Oliver tended to overthink things, especially when he got nervous.
“If she needs a way out of the Negaverse, we can help her with that, at least. Get her to meet the right people.”
He was worried about this being infatuation more than love. But then again, he had fallen in love relatively quickly, so was it right for him to judge?
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Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2023 9:11 am
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It was easy to relax in Michael’s arms, and as soon as there was warmth around him, Oliver drew in a breath, held it, and then slowly let it out. He looked down, maybe because he didn’t want to see Devyn’s expression as he leaned into the hug.
Michael was good for him, even if he felt bad about needing the reassurance. Just hearing it was a weight off of his shoulders, and the tension seemed to evaporate between the hug and the kindness.
He took a moment to take Michael’s advice, and then quietly thanked him.
Devyn was leaning against the counter but turned his head away briefly, as if to give them a bit of privacy. He liked Oliver, and he certainly liked Michael. Even if they were married, he still understood that he was intruding into their friendship. Michael knew how to best help Oliver, and Devyn was still learning.
Oliver nodded and stayed close to Michael. “You know people that can do that? I mean–of course you do, sorry. There’s still so much to all of this, I can’t believe you had this whole magical life and managed to keep it a secret for so long. I want to think that she’d rather leave than fixate on forcing someone to join her. She doesn’t seem pushy. I mean, she’s excited and really enthusiastic. She was scary at first, but she’s–it’s like, she changed her mind about wanting to be scary and instead she wanted to be friendly. And I’ve always told myself not to get too close because I listened to all of your warnings about the Negaverse, but it’s just–I don’t know. I want to give her a chance. Like–you know when you have that student and you can see them struggling but you know they have so much potential? If you could just give them that little push they need? That’s what it feels like. Like, she’s right there.”
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Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2023 9:15 am
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It was dangerous. They’d tried helping someone before when they said they wanted to purify, but somehow they were followed and they ended up having to take Jet hostage, if only to give the Senshi enough time to escape. Of course, that ended with his father’s death and Ganymede being kidnapped, so he couldn’t help but be overly cautious about people wanting to leave the Negaverse.
He didn’t move away from Oliver when the hug ended, but he did shift just slightly so he could reach his hand back to rest it against the counter, and in doing so brushed it against Devyn’s arm.
Michael wanted to make sure he knew he wasn’t being ignored, and that his opinions on the topic mattered as well. He might be new to Earth, but he also knew Michael better than anyone else, and could see if his thoughts were compromised by lingering grief or needless worry.
“Don’t apologize, we only told you so much,” Michael reassured Oliver. “We know people who can purify the Chaos from others.” A few of them by now. They’d seen Ida on Alastor. Obviously there was Ganymede and he assumed Camelot was still around. Cosmos, of course, although he would rather not have that confrontation happen between her and Devyn.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. Really. I thought it would be safer,” he said quietly, still feeling guilty about keeping Oliver and Asher in the dark for so long.
“So you’re going to talk to her again. I think you should let her know that she should get out if she can. That there’s people that can help with that. She’ll want to make sure she records whatever she wants to remember somewhere. Memories usually get lost when purifying. Same with when someone is corrupted. Too much strain on the starseed, I guess,” he said with a small shrug, because he really didn’t know for sure.
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Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2023 9:27 am
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Though Devyn stayed quiet, it wasn’t because he felt out of place or like his opinion didn’t matter. He trusted Michael completely. The touch was appreciated, but he didn’t know if Michael needed a little extra support, so he kept his arm still and moved his other hand to rest atop Michael’s hand.
“No, no. Don’t apologize,” Oliver said quickly. “It probably was safer. I appreciate you telling us now that we experienced them. I know there’s so much that we don’t know, and I don’t mind. I mean, the less I know–well, I want to say ‘the better’, but I guess that’s not true. It’s not like knowing is going to give me any power over it, but if I know then maybe it’ll help me if I get into trouble. Oh, or maybe I’ll fumble it and say the wrong thing in front of someone. I don’t know, Michael. I understand why you wouldn’t tell me, I’m not mad about that.”
He wasn’t mad about anything. Michael had kept them safe–and came to rescue them from the Negaverse. He’d always looked out for him, of course Oliver trusted his judgment.
“I know what I need to know when I know it.” And even with Michael telling him this new information, he knew it would take a little time to actually process it.
“I can do that though, when I talk to her. All of those things sound good. I mean, I won’t say all of those things, but I’ll tell her to get out. If I can. I’ll try to suggest all of those things without sounding like I know what I’m talking about. Those are good ideas, thank you.”
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Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2023 9:31 am
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“I’m okay with that,” Oliver assured quickly. “Atticus showed us how it worked. I was worrying about the two of them going out,” he said apologetically. “But he promised me that if there was an issue, he had a way he could call you two.”
Devyn couldn’t help but smile softly; he was proud of Atticus for a lot of things, and he appreciated how kind and reassuring he was. It probably wasn’t easy for Oliver to imagine his son out fighting. Devyn didn’t really like to let Atticus go out without him, but he knew he couldn't be there forever, and he trusted him.
He hadn’t let him down yet, and Devyn couldn’t really imagine a situation where he would.
He stayed quiet, but he had a solid presence behind the two. He wrapped his finger around Michael’s instinctively and squeezed gently, just once. A silent promise that it would be okay. If Oliver wanted to go out and meet with her, that was fine. He could take the pen. Michael and Devyn would probably find a good excuse to be in the park anyway, just in case.
Oliver finally seemed like he was relaxing enough that he didn’t need to bury himself in the hug so much. “I don’t feel like I’m in danger. Not from her. I mean, I think the only time I feel like I might be doing the wrong thing is when I think about if someone saw us. I don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea. I don’t want trouble. But I’m optimistic, I think. I don’t know. I believe her.” Softer, then. “I want to believe her.”
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Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2023 9:46 am
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There were too many unknowns for anything to be certain. But he and Devyn would be close enough to jump in to help if they needed to. As long as they knew when Oliver was meeting up with this agent, they could be close enough so that Michael could feel the aura and make sure Oliver wasn’t in distress, while keeping out of sight.
As Oliver relaxed, Michael let himself pull back a little more, because while he wanted to protect his friend, he also wanted to show that he trusted him to know it was okay to do what he thought was best. Michael would worry, of course. But he worried all the time, it seemed.
“I don’t want her to let you down,” he said quietly. “I just don’t want you getting hurt. We need you. And maybe she needs you, too.”
She was in the Negaverse. The same people who killed his father, who murdered whoever they wanted. But they’d also tried helping those they could. They had proof in the extended family they now had that people wanted to get out of the Negaverse. Ganymede had helped a number of people escape from that fate, and hopefully this one would be another to escape. Maybe with all the extra Royals around, it wouldn’t just be on Ganymede and Cosmos to help them any more.
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