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 Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2023 9:59 am
They had been on Alastor for a few days. Devyn wasn’t complaining, how could he? He loved his world, even if he was only able to share a small part of it right now. With Michael as sick as he was, he wouldn’t have dared to stray more than a room or two away from him. Sometimes he might slip away for a few minutes at a time, for food, or to fetch a new book to read to Michael while he rested.
Michael had been terribly obliging during all of this, and had humored Devyn when he moved a couch into the Hall’s library so Michael could still rest while Devyn was ‘productive’.
For the most part, Devyn’s sickness had all but faded. He’d been tired, but that was the worst of it, which meant that he got to spend more of his time and energy making sure that Michael had the best chance at recovery.
For as bad as it could have gotten, Devyn was glad that it didn’t seem to surpass a manageable state at any point in time. Rest and recovery, sleep and good food, and lots of love and pampering had done a decent enough job.
He was probably a bit overzealous in making sure Michael was well taken care of; he’d made more medicine than he needed, probably because he wanted to ensure this never happened again. He’d have to go back to Villefort but he wasn’t going to ask anyone to do the same–at least, not until he was certain he had a better drainage system in place to prevent any toxic buildup.
Today, they were in the library. It was a rainy day outside and Devyn had, at some point between the goats first showing up and his last trip, made the time to build a makeshift shed. It had no walls, only several strategically placed beams, and a roof. Dried grass had been laid out–and promptly eaten–and he hadn’t come up with a different floor plan, but it was something to keep them dry. He didn’t want them straying too far to find shelter elsewhere, and he’d already snuck out once in the rain to bribe them with snacks.
He and Michael had taken a warm bath, and there was a pleasant fire burning near the couch Devyn had prepared for Michael. There were books strewn across a table he’d brought in, and he had boxes of supplies. He’d been repairing some of the old books. Many of them were well preserved, but the glue in the binding had gotten brittle, and some of his boxes were full of books he’d recovered from Arista that were in dire need of more laborious mending.
He had several books drying, and was mindful to keep just enough distance between him and Michael so he couldn’t bother him with the smell of chemicals. Blankets were within easy reach for Michael, and Devyn stood at the table as he worked, humming occasionally when he thought Michael was asleep, or telling him stories or showing him old pictures he found when he knew he was awake.
There was food nearby, as per usual, because Devyn didn’t want to have any reason to leave Michael today. The rain wasn’t even bad, it was just light, steady showers. No thunder, either.
“Oh, I found some more maps,” he announced, fishing through some of the loose papers he’d recovered. There were hundreds of pages that had fallen out of their binding, and many of them had been mixed up. Michael couldn't read the words, but any time Devyn found a picture he seemed happy to share–and now he had a stack of things, from animals to flowers, to maps. “This is good paper,” he mused, rubbing his thumb over the thick, almost leathery texture of it. The ink hadn’t faded and the color and fine details were still fresh. A few gold flakes had chipped off of the paint, but overall it was still in impressive condition considering he’d pulled it out of a waterlogged basement a month ago and had to leave it out to dry to get this far with it.
“Feel this, it’s so smooth.” He carried it–and the entire box of papers over, to set down by the couch in case Michael got bored of just listening to him and wanted to see some of what he was working on. The book he’d made for Michael was on a bedside table he’d carried in, so Michael could actually read something if he wanted.
“I’ve never been able to make this quality, no matter how hard I try. I think I rush the process. But the fibers are interesting, I wonder what tree they made this from.”
He wasn’t just talking to talk–though, he did like a bit more sound than just what the rain on the roof or the crackling fire provided. It was something that must have interested him, because he certainly had plenty of other thoughts he kept to himself.
As he offered it to Michael for inspection–not the first page of the day, and certainly not the last, he did as he always did when he came over and kissed atop his head.
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2023 10:11 am
Michael hated that he was too unwell to actually do anything useful. From being really enthusiastic about helping to being able to barely stay awake for more than an hour at a time was miserable.
Oh, and he was still sick. Not as bad as before, but still recovering. His fingers weren’t as inky black as before, and the black around the scrape he got looked like it was slowly fading, but not fast enough in Michael’s opinion.
Devyn was perfect, though. He didn’t think he would like Devyn wasting his time trying to make sure he was feeling better, but he appreciated every moment he spent with him, and hoped one day he would be able to repay him. Preferably not because Devyn got sick, although Michael would happily take care of him if he did.
Michael turned his head to look up at Devyn when he brought over the map, and obligingly lifted a hand to carefully feel the paper between his fingers.
“It does feel like really high quality paper. Probably why it lasted so long. Durable for a lot of use,” he mumbled with almost a rambling quality to the words. He was tired, but intrigued by everything Devyn was doing. And he was grateful that Devyn let him stay with him while he worked.
“Another of Atrius’s treatures?” he couldn’t help but smile, carefully holding up the map so he could see it more easily. “I think you’re doing a good job with keeping everything protected as best you can. What’s this a map of?” he asked almost suddenly as he looked at it closer. “Not Arista. Another part of Alastor?”
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2023 10:18 am
Devyn moved around to the back of the couch so he could rest his elbows on the back of it and lean over to see the paper. “It’s hard to say,” he mused. “I haven’t seen any other paper like that yet so I don’t know which book it was a part of. For all I know it’s just a fairy tale, or an artist rendition. Or a proposed planning, or conquered land. Ah,” he sighed, and leaned over so he could cross his arms on the back of the couch and rest his cheek against his arm.
He looked at the paper intently, like he was trying to find anything he could recognize about it.
Eventually, his lips pursed, and he wasn’t keen to give up but he had to shrug. “I don’t know, it doesn’t really look familiar to me. I’ll have to see if I can find any more pages like that. You’ve got me curious, now.”
He was always curious, though.
Even if he was still a bit tired and sore, he pushed himself up and moved back to the table where he was working. There were plenty of boxes for him to check over there so he might as well get started. The box next to Michael was equally unorganized and unsorted, and he mulled over bringing over another box and just sitting on the couch with him while he sifted through them.
Although, if he sat down, he wasn’t sure if he’d be getting up again any time soon, so he just stood by the table with a stack of papers and began carefully flipping through them.
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2023 10:24 am
While Devyn leaned across the back of the couch, Michael took advantage of being able to reach up and massage his fingers along the back of Devyn’s neck. He knew how hard he’d been working, how much he did to make sure Michael was comfortable and getting better. He still planned on holding up his promise to give him a massage. Probably when he was better and they were home.
He didn’t let the touches last long, because he knew Devyn would get distracted, so he pulled his hand away after a few moments and watched Devyn move back to the table.
And with that, Michael pushed himself up to sit. With a bit of whimpering because he still felt achy and exhausted, but he could at least help. Because now he was curious too.
“It was very well crafted if it’s just a fictional piece,” he observed, looking at the gold details on the map. He carefully set it down next to him so he could lean over and drag the unsorted box closer to him. He was careful with each page, of course. And he could tell by look and feel what pages were likely grouped together.
“Does Alastor have any myths about forgotten land masses or cities? Earth has a number of them, but they’re likely skewed stories about Knight Wonders that have been put into myths and legends.”
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2023 10:26 am
Devyn shifted his weight from one foot to another and leaned his hip against the table as he rifled through the sheets in his hand. Briefly, his eyes darted up over the pages so he could see Michael and make sure he wasn’t straining himself, but his attention turned to the pages quickly enough. “Well, it’s hard to tell what’s a myth and what’s reality. There were plenty of places lost in war or disaster. I’ve never even been across the ocean, so I can’t say with any certainty that something claiming accuracy is legitimate. And when records can be doctored or erased–when I can’t find anyone to dispute them–”
He shrugged. “It’s too hard to tell, I’m afraid. Especially without more context from whatever text it was from. It could be somewhere real. It could be somewhere that was real, once. It could be someone’s idea of an elaborate prank. Or it could be like any of those maps in your fantasy books.”
Except, now he wanted to know. Was it worth it to craft such a detailed map for a prank? It was either expensive, or time consuming, or both. “I wish Perce were here to share an opinion,” he mused. “He was very good with maps. He could tell if they were done by a professional cartographer or an artist. Not that one couldn’t be both, but there’s a bit more skill that goes into it than just pretty lines, I suppose. I don’t know. I think they’re nice to look at but I’m more of a ‘let my feet find the way’ sort of person, I suppose.”
He could read a map. Following it was just a bit harder. Especially when his mind wandered or he moved too fast. But then, getting lost was an art in itself. Just, a very inconvenient one.
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2023 10:27 am
“I can try to take another nap and summon some of his memories,” Michael teased, although it was quite possible that he would have another dream with how things had been over the past few days.
He didn’t understand why he was having dreams of what he could only assume were memories, but they were there. He didn’t tell Devyn about all of them, not wanting to upset him or make him worry.
“He let me see Atrius recently,” he shared somewhat off-handedly as he gingerly placed a couple pages into a pile. “I’ve seen him before, but from his eyes it’s different, I think. They were doing the same thing,” he said, gesturing to the stacks of papers.
“Well, sort of. I think they were searching maps and documents for something to help find you. Being in Villefort must have pushed those memories to the surface.”
He continued to sort through the pages, trying to remember anything significant about the documents Percy and Atrius had been looking through. Most of the memory -- the dream -- had faded.
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2023 10:33 am
Devyn’s lip twitched when Michael suggested another nap. He probably should have encouraged it just so he’d get a bit more rest. He suspected that Michael had far more than he’d let on, but as they were Percy’s memories, now they were Michael’s. He trusted that if it was important to discuss, Micahel would bring it to him.
But, he knew what it was like to get memories of another life. He hated it. He’d done everything in his power to prevent his previous incarnation from slipping into this life. For the most part, it had worked. When he was younger he’d been less successful, but he’d learned.
Percy, he imagined, was a much more pleasant mind to explore than Tieran’s. His head nearly ached just thinking about that. Or it was just that he’d been hunched over for so long. Or maybe he was just working out the last of his sickness.
Even if he was showing Michael Atrius.
“Is that so? I know they were very studious in my absence. Once they realized that only the older maps had Villefort on them, they started going over every atlas and map they could find to figure out what was going on. I suppose that makes sense, that you’d have memories of Villefort, all things considered. Your starseed is probably resonating with the location. I’m sorry, if it’s a bit strange. You don’t have to tell me anything if it’s uncomfortable. But you know that I’ll always be here to listen if you want to talk.”
He was sure that Michael already knew that but he wanted to say it just in case.
“I wonder why he chose that memory, though. Did they find anything interesting? Or was he just showing of how handsome Atrius was?”
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2023 11:41 am
“Oh, I agree that Atrius was very handsome,” Michael hummed, trying to hide the amusement in his voice but not quite managing. “You’re not still worried about him sweeping me off my feet after all this time, are you?” he laughed and then paused, as though he was trying to rearrange things in his head.
“Sweeping Percy off his feet,” he corrected, and while he still wore a smile, it was a bit more somber. It wasn’t the first time he’d cycled Percy’s memories into his own, but it was still a bit startling how easy it was to slip out sometimes.
He knew he could tell Devyn anything, but there were some things he didn’t see the point in making Devyn relive them. Or him knowing that Michael saw the pain he went through. There was no gain in doing so, especially since Michael was pretty sure any explanation would include how Marius was a clever, but cheeky, controller of ancient magic.
“Atrius had a book out of different symbols of old magic, trying to match up what Percy saw on your hand. They isolated Villefort as where to look, but Percy was curious about the other symbols, so Atrius was showing him what he knew.”
Michael paused again with a frown. “I think I’ve seen that page before. Or part of it. Something about the magic that originally pushed all those stones and land masses into the sky. I think.”
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2023 11:52 am
The distance between them was suddenly too much. Michael’s smile had changed. Devyn wondered what else had, beneath that well-crafted mask he was so good at putting on. Devyn didn’t need to know everything, he was fine with Michael keeping things to himself, or choosing what to share, and when. It wasn’t his starseed. He and Percy had shared a life, but Devyn did not feel entitled to know what that meant, or how those memories manifested.
He was interested in what Michael had to say, but more interested in how he felt. He lowered the pages he’d been going through and returned to the couch so he could sit next to him. If he leaned a little close to see the page again, it was just a good cover while he wrapped his arm around Michael’s waist.
“I have nightmares of Atrius sweeping you off your feet, too.” He kissed Michael’s cheek. “You’d think a man in his grave for this long wouldn’t stand a chance, but he had people swooning for him even on his deathbed.”
Atrius' heart was well and taken, and he’d always been mindful of who he shared that with. In his youth, Devyn hadn’t known as much, and naturally he’d worried that Percy would have been smitten by such a cultured, established, handsome gentleman.
Michael as well could have been seduced by his charms were he here now. He pulled him a bit closer in case some phantom apparition decided to try.
His attention returned to the page, and there were parts of Michael’s memory that felt like a new story to him. Of course he and Percy had talked after the fact, but things had been so busy with Marius, and cleaning up the mess, and getting things taken care of that all of this still felt new.
“We should find the other pages, if we can I’d be distraught if they didn’t make it out. I didn’t know he had books about that. It’s all legend and rumor, you know. Ancient, ancient. Like your Greek lore. Even the Hall doesn’t have information available. I asked my Council a thousand times. You know about Alastor’s atmosphere, it sucks up everything. Most of the debris it caught were things from outside my world–but you’ve seen that island, the one that floats around? I want to get up there.” He’d said it countless times and his enthusiasm had never dwindled.
“I know Atrius was looking into it for me. I don’t think he’d keep something like this a secret if he thought there was truth to it. Still.” He pursed his lips together and tried to scrape what memories he could back up to the surface of his mind. Things were still foggy, there was too much to sift through. “There was so much going on back then. More important things than playing adventurer, at least.”
He glanced at Michael from the corner of his eye, and tilted his head to rest a bit closer. “Are you doing all right?”
It wasn’t just about the sickness, he knew he was recovering. Slowly, but each day was better than the last.
He just hadn’t realized there might have been an issue with intrusive memories, and the longer they stayed here, the longer he worried Michael might be getting more overwhelmed by them. Which wasn’t fair; they could go to Sessrumnir just as much as Alastor. He might even recover quicker there.
Though he’d gotten plenty done in the past few days while here, it was a thought he wished he’d had a few days ago, anyway. Michael might have already been recovered if they’d gone to rest at Sessrumnir.
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2023 12:00 pm
Devyn joining him on the couch was nice, and making sure Devyn could see the page easier was a good excuse for Michael to also lean closer.
“I’m okay,” he said quietly, and turned his head to return the kiss by pressing one to Devyn’s temple. He could tell by the way Devyn asked that it wasn’t about being sick. Michael suspected Devyn might have been concerned over the way Michael slipped up with his memories versus his life, but he hoped he wasn’t too worried about it, when it wasn’t anything to be worried about in the first place.
A little unsettling, sure. But it didn’t mean anything. He was just tired. The sickness was more exhausting than anything, and he was glad that it seemed as though Devyn was almost fully recovered from being under the weather as well.
“But now I’m even more interested in these maps,” he hummed, making sure that Devyn could see that he was in a good mood, despite being worn down. “It seems to indicate some legend revolving around the islands in the sky. There might be more on the other side of your world, or maybe they’ve been brought down with time,” he surmised as he looked over the page. If his memories and the page matched up, it looked like there was some ancient legend that surrounded all of that, but it could also just be creative fabrication.
“And no one has been able to make it up to explore, as far as you know?” It might prove more challenging to figure out a way up if that was the case, but if it was something Devyn wanted to explore, then why not?
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2023 12:03 pm
There were plenty of things Devyn could actually worry about–like if there was any long term physical toll of this sickness on him. Things that would have been energy-well spent. So well spent that he allowed himself to worry about a bit about what Michael was keeping to himself, just as a little treat for himself.
He trusted Michael, absolutely. But Micahel was still learning that it was okay to not be okay. He didn’t have to force himself to keep things to himself. He could tell Devyn when he wasn’t feeling his best, or when there was something that wasn’t quite right. More than that, he could tell Devyn when he needed help–even if he was still learning how to ask.
Devyn didn’t need him to confide in every little thing. He just knew that someone else’s memories could be a heavy burden–good, or bad.
He kept an arm around Michael and rubbed his back. There didn’t have to be anything meaningful behind it. He loved him, he supported him. He understood.
And, Devyn was equally curious in these maps, so it was a good distraction from everything else.
“Don’t say that,” he insisted, but certainly didn’t mean it. There was too much interest in his voice, and he’d leaned forward too much to examine the pages. “You have memories of that?” He knew Michael couldn’t read Alastorian, they’d only just talked about trying to teach him recently. There weren’t enough pages for Devyn to confirm, but it only encouraged him to find the rest of them.
If they could. He wasn’t delusional enough to think that that information might exist anywhere but in Percy’s borrowed memories.
He wanted it to be real. The necklace had a small burst of light, but it was always glowing. Devyn was always happier here, always happier with Michael.
“I’ve never heard of anyone reaching the island. And I assume that if they did, it would have been news everywhere. I lost track of time often after Perce passed, but I think I would have noticed that. The winds were too bad, and with the weather how it was, it was more dangerous than trying to cross the ocean. And I know I’ve told you all about that. You think Perce really read some legends about there being more on the other side of Alastor? I don’t even know how we’d go about trying to figure that out. I want to see that, too, but.” He shrugged a bit. “I don’t know how feasible that is, either.”
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2023 12:09 pm
“At least that’s what Atrius told Percy,” he confessed, because while all the memories he’d received weren’t necessarily important to share, he wasn’t going to deny it when there was a memory that gave him a little more insight than he’d usually have.
“But he might have been indulging Percy with stories. He seemed like he was willing to take the time to give Percy something else to think about while they were still figuring out what to do about finding you. Percy might have just stored it away since it wasn’t relevant at the time. But I think he knew how interested you were about the island, too.”
He could only base his assumption on feeling, of course. Percy wasn’t there for him to ask, as much as he would like to have some kind of confirmation.
“Who says we can’t explore and find out?” he half teased, tilting his head so he could show Devyn a smile, despite how tired he was. “We could take some time and try to chart our way across different routes that you have maps for. See what’s still out there. Besides, you want to find anyone who might still be isolated.”
Michael was willing to be optimistic for Devyn’s sake, even though the likelihood of finding others was uncomfortably low.
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2023 12:14 pm
“Atrius wouldn’t have lied to him,” Devyn justified. Maybe stretched the truth once in a while, but he wouldn’t have lied. Not about something like that. He didn’t dwell on how easily Michael had said it, but he figured that just meant there were more memories he was digesting than he’d imagined.
“He would have told him stories, but I don’t think he would have fabricated anything that wasn’t in some way documented.” Even if the documents were inaccurate, would Atrius have wasted time and energy coming up with his own stories? “...Well, he used to tell me stories,” he mused. “But I was a child. And he was always good with telling me what was the truth. I think he was always looking after me and making sure I wasn’t working off of incorrect information.”
There were too many things stirring in his mind right now, and he felt his energy surge just a bit at the prospect of exploring across the ocean, and finding people, and–
“To be honest, I was sort of hoping that if we could reach the island in the sky, maybe we could also use it to get across the ocean,” he admitted. “It would be safer, I think. Without bad weather, we could see everything that was below us. And it would be safer than dealing with the ocean. I know how much you love the water, but–”
He paused, suddenly, and then turned to look at Michael with a more serious look. “I know you don’t like being up in the air.”
He didn’t say flying, even if he knew that’s what it was really. “Would you be comfortable going up there if we found a way up?”
Devyn wouldn’t force him. Wouldn’t do anything to make him uncomfortable.
He didn’t say it, but he probably would have been willing to abandon his curiosity altogether just to keep Michael from being in an uncomfortable position. He could do it alone, but it was so much work and effort, and it suddenly seemed so much less important if it wasn’t something he could do with Michael.
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2023 12:34 pm
It was sweet how much Devyn thought about him. Michael couldn’t have stopped himself from smiling even if he wanted to. He turned a little more so he could face Devyn easier, reaching up to place his arm across the back of the couch, using his fingers to brush Devyn’s hair off his shoulder.
“I want to explore everywhere with you,” he said, and there was obvious sincerity in his voice.
But there was also uncertainty in his eyes, and if Devyn had a necklace like Michael did, he would be able to feel how his heart raced at the very thought of being off the ground.
This was different though. At least that’s what he told himself. This was going to an island in the sky. This wasn’t a helicopter or a plane. And he would be there with Devyn.
Ah, but it wouldn’t be fair to Devyn if he suddenly had a panic attack. Devyn was already doing so much to take care of him as it was.
“I don’t know the weather here as well as what can be predicted on Earth. We’ve got plenty of ways to monitor the weather, and we can prepare for whatever is expected to happen. Being above all that would make me feel better,” he said, hoping it was enough to convince Devyn that it would be fine.
He was terrified of the idea of flying. But this was different.
“Besides, I have to find out if the stories are true. Some ancient civilization used to access that island, so there has to be a way. We just have to keep looking.”
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2023 12:49 pm
The fingers in his hair eased Devyn, almost enough that he nearly missed the secrets in the shadows of Michael’s face. The smile was honest. The words were.
There was worry in his eyes.
Michael tried to hide it. Devyn had already smarted up to these habits.
He didn’t need a necklace to see that Michael had other feelings than just what he was sharing.
“I won’t lie to you. I want to explore the skies. It’s been a dream of mine for a long time. But I would put that aside in a heartbeat. There are plenty of other places to explore on Alastor. I want to find out if the stories are true. But maybe there are other ways.”
They could keep looking, no matter what course of action they decided to take at the end of their search.
“I would explore every corner of this universe with you. I would brave the sea with you if the sky was too fierce for us. Don’t push yourself on my account. Not for something like this. If the story ends with our feet on the ground–this ground, not the one above us–that’s okay, too. I’ve got you. Everything else is icing on the cake, Michael. So if the day comes when we find a way up, and it doesn’t feel right?”
He pulled himself closer to Michael and kissed his forehead, and his cheek, and his lips.
“Then we can wait for another day. We can wait for however long it takes.” If that was forever, so be it. “We can figure it out. I’m not worried. But you’re clever, Michael. If something doesn’t feel right, if it’s an odd feeling, or if your skin is crawling, let’s take it as a sign of danger. I trust your instinct. You just have to tell me when it’s starting so we can act fast?”
He rubbed Michael’s back again, just trying to bring him some comfort. They didn’t have to go into the sky if he didn’t want to. Not to anywhere, not to anything.
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