Welcome to Gaia! ::

"See? Mine's right there." Amoris looked behind him to the other three. "I just put it there not that long ago. I knew exactly where it was." His piece of the Code, granted to him by that disembodied voice, lay atop a pedestal he'd been careful to clean off. He'd even come back as soon as he could and put a little rose-coloured satin handkerchief under it, something to make it look fancier. Zebulon might not have liked the Code very much, but Amoris didn't have any reason to be anything but warm toward it.

So he'd treated his piece of it accordingly.

One day he'd get a proper enclosure for it, but the weather here seemed nice enough that he hadn't worried too much yet. It didn't seem likely to blow away, it was sheltered from the rain by the roof of the pavilion the pedestal sat under, and there didn't seem to be many strong storms from what he'd been able to tell. At least, nothing seemed... blown over. Blown up? Maybe. But not blown over.

Amoris walked over to his piece of the Code, picking it up and turning it over in his hands carefully, almost reverently. How could he not, considering what it had gifted him? "See? This is it." He turned, holding it up so the other three could see it. "Promethei's seen it already, but you know."

"Jealous," Imhotep remarked flatly, earning a snort from Emain Ablach and a laugh from Amoris. At Amoris' laugh, the Code piece seemed to glow a little brighter. "Nice of yours to be front and center like that, I guess. No bookcases."

"No, no bookcases." Amoris carried his piece with him as he walked back over to them. "If I have to try and resonate with it, we should find someplace more comfortable." He looked around them. "One of the pavilions over there has a bunch of cushions that seem to still be in pretty good shape." At least, considering how old they had to be.

"I'm down for cushions." Emain Ablach followed Amoris' gaze and headed toward that pavilion. Imhotep hesitated, looking between the piece and where Emain Ablach was headed, then to the pedestal, then back toward the other pavilion, then back to Amoris.

"Will it work if you move it too far?"

"I don't see why not?" Amoris looked down at it. "It doesn't seem to mind being moved." Indeed, the gentle glow hadn't wavered at all. "I had to move it here, you know?"

"Fair enough."

Amoris followed Emain Ablach to the pavilion with the cushions. "I mean, I think they are? Nothing seems to have happened too drastically here. Just... abandoned, you know?" It was only a short walk, and soon Amoris was sinking down into the cushions in one corner. They were dusty and smelled like it, but not altogether too objectionable. After a sneeze or three, Amoris held his piece of the Code in front of himself where he reclined. "Sorry that this is going to be super boring for you guys."

"Eh, like he said, I'll probably just take a nap." Emain Ablach settled next to Amoris, slinging an arm around his shoulders and settling on the cushions. "These are pretty nice." Imhotep made a murmur of agreement, coming to rest on Amoris' other side and looking expectantly toward Promethei.

Amoris, for his part, was already focusing on what was in his hands.

Soft breezes, softer whispers, pairs--and larger groups--walking hand-in-hand. He reclined back in his chair, watching them pass by with a fond twinkle in his eyes. His hands, spotted with age, idly spun his cane in place. The streets of Venus were not always full of parties. Sometimes, like now, a gentler air took hold.

He even recognized a couple of the gaggles of lovers passing him by, and they, him. They waved enthusiastically his way, and he smiled and lifted a hand in return greeting. It had been some months since he had retired, but there was still a warmth to helping others find love, even now. His social life was full of wedding invitations, at the very least.

This was... nice. Peaceful. After a few minutes, however, he got up and made his way inside. He considered making himself a pot of tea, but decided against it. A tiredness wound its way through him, a tiredness he had been feeling in increasing amounts in the past several days. He instead passed through the kitchen, through his living room decorated with photographs of laughing faces, and made his way toward his bedroom.

Gifts over the years meant that he sank down onto silken sheets and settled under a fine down blanket. His cane went to its spot beside his bed, carefully leaned against his dresser. Sunlight filtered through the stained glass in his windows, a conceit of his from a visit off-world. He took a moment to relax in the gentle coolness of his bedroom, hearing the voices on the street outside, laughing and talking. A smile curled his lips as his eyes fell shut.

The smile remained even after his breathing stopped.

Amoris jerked himself out of the memory, then, realising that he'd stopped breathing for a moment. A soft weight rested on his heart as the memory settled itself into his recollection. He shook himself, realising that he was being stared at. "I'm fine, I'm fine." He looked down at his hands, half-expecting to see the age spots and gnarled knuckles there. Though, it was not with a sense of fear, but more... sadness. He took a deep breath, looking around them and realising that many of the cracked columns around them were, in fact, no longer cracked.

The piece of Code in his hands seemed to thrum contentedly.

"...I think I did it."

Promethei wasn't the only one looking at Amoris with alarm. Imhotep had come out of a sound sleep when he realised Amoris' chest wasn't moving, the images of a warm afternoon fading quickly in his mind. That first gasp of air had caused a surge of relief through Imhotep, and he let go of the breath he'd been holding. Emain Ablach swore quietly, pinching the bridge of his nose as his own relief chased away the images of light through stained glass playing over a blanket that, eventually, stopped moving.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Amoris sat up fully from where he'd slouched, smoothing a hand over his own hair and looking around again at their surroundings. "It... was a good thing, what I saw." Bittersweet, to be sure. He was processing that he'd seen himself, well... die. But not in battle or from sickness or heartbreak or any of those things. He'd been happy enough. Filled with pride when looking around at the pictures of smiling faces adorning his walls, even if none of them had included himself. But a long life. A happy one.

"...A good thing?" Emain Ablach sounded skeptical. "You stopped breathing." Amoris offered him a smile.

"Yeah, a good thing."