Welcome to Gaia! ::

Sitting and looking out the window as they drove, he remembered this drive a bit from when he’d gone to meet Liam. Things had worked out in the end with him getting calls or texts occasionally asking about furniture or other mundane things which he was more than alright with. If anything he preferred that over the craziness that had occurred in space. Even though he was mostly healed up now, he was still sore a bit where some of the larger pieces of glass had dug into his back.

Noticing one of the homes being remodeled, he was curious if they might need furniture and wondered if it would be frowned upon by his boyfriend if he asked them to stop so he could leave a card in their mailbox. Deciding against it, he pulled out his phone and checked his work emails for a moment as he spoke. “The houses out here are nice, even if they are pretty far apart from each other. I guess they’ve all been here for a hundred years or more, at least from what I saw of the inside of the Sharp home.” But could he even call a place that large a home? It was more a manor with that slightly oppressive feeling to it. In the bit of time he had spent there, alongside the texts from Liam, he had figured most of the rooms were still storage and hadn’t been sorted really.

“Good thing I brought a measuring tape though, Liam wanted me to look into something in one of the side rooms. I figure that would be a nice way to split the two up if you wanted to work on your side of patching things up with the fellow.” If anything he’d been planning things out to try and manage the damage that had been done since he had, indirectly, been the cause of the outburst.

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Sitting at the piano with Desiree as she played while in her civilian glamour, Aloysius smiled at the progress she had made. The speed wasn’t there yet but she’d managed to play things without hitting sour notes now which meant Liam was finally getting a reprieve from all that. It was a way for himself to keep busy without going out on patrol now too.

His back was doing about as well as it could be, it would never be perfect after the years of being hunched over and poor posture while working. Liam had been pretty strict with him on staying home and resting, providing ample motivation to listen to them. It was easier to not go stir crazy as they’d started sifting through the side rooms and boxes of books and furniture as well, something he could do while sitting at the kitchen table or on a chair. It was… a bit terrifying the willpower his fiancé had when it came to the war path of cleaning he’d started with the down time of summer. His own injury had just been a bit of an excuse to sort things since he was home and able to help.

Overall it was nice, something he was glad they were here for because he’d come across some things in the boxes that had torn at his heart. Pictures now hung up of him and his grandparents, the rare ones of him smiling where he was actually happy. The ones of his father were left in a different box, one that would soon get sent to the attic after more sorting and cleaning had been done.

“True and I’ve seen the plantpocalypse you’ve set out to enact on their yard. It looks good though mon ange.” Teasing slightly as he could already see a bit of it as they neared the Sharp manor. It gave him more of that feel he was used to with his own home at first, until Liam had set upon their own war path - this time against dust. It was funny to him, seeing someone clean their own place but then he remembered that Liam hadn’t grown up like he or Alex had, or Aloysius for that matter either.

Tapping a text out to Liam, he did let them know they were pulling up now just in case. He wouldn’t tease or taunt too much but he figured it would be best to not wander in on the off chance they were in the middle of something with their partner.

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Stretching carefully and getting up from the piano, he wandered towards the kitchen to sort through the most recent box as he heard Liam wandering into another room to clean. This one was full of books so he was alright taking a cursory glance as he heard Desiree continuing to practice on the piano. He figured she had another half hour left before there might be a sour chord as she poofed back into a cat. Sometimes she got too into the music and didn’t notice the little timer she had set up on the piano for herself. It was something they’d agreed on once she started sneaking to the college with him, he didn’t need any incidents of a cat being loose in the building if he could manage it.

“Liam, come take a break! I was going to make some tea or lemonade if you want?” Calling out towards the upstairs where they last were, he then went about pulling things out to make both drink types. One would be just in the fridge for the other to drink as they pleased so he decided to maybe make a lemonade that had blueberries and strawberries muddled in it as well since he had both still in the fridge that he’d gotten for the other.

Smiling to himself, he was happy to do the little things like this for them as they helped clean up this place. It was slowly feeling more and more like a home and not the gilded cage he’d so desperately tried to escape. Even now as he stood in his loungepants and a short sleeved shirt, he didn’t feel that same nervousness and anxiety he had felt just earlier this year while in this place.

Getting a message back from Liam, he started getting out of the car as he nodded. “It’s nice seeing you work in the garden and honestly you’ve gotten some plants I never really saw back home so it’s been a surprise each time with what you get. At least none of them have been like the ones in your greenhouse that I have to worry about getting poisoned by.” Laughing as he walked around the car to meet the other, he took a moment to look around at how the plants were doing here. It was still summer so nothing would be uprooted or moved for a few more months if he had understood his boyfriends scheme correctly.

Things changed without his notice back home but then again everything had run on clockwork with all the staff so it was normal for new things to appear and take the place of things he’d long remembered. He hadn’t minded it though and honestly he still lived that way with his constantly changing wardrobe. “They said it’s alright to head inside and remember mon ange, be nice to the poor fellow. I’m here this time so no need to start a little hissy fit and fight the man.” Poking the blonde’s cheek he teased before offering a hand to pull them out of the car.

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“Oh! I forgot they were coming…” Looking down at his arms, he hesitated for a moment and grabbed a loose sweater from the closet by the door. While he was fine with Liam seeing his scars, he still wasn’t alright with many others seeing them. “Desiree, two of our colleagues are arriving! You need not worry about Melody so you can come meet them if you want or you can continue playing piano!” Calling out to his mauvian for a moment, he nodded and then took a deep breath and opened the door.

“Hello René, and Alexandre.” He hadn’t exactly expected the shorter blonde but it also seemed like they came as a matched pair much like he did with Liam. Waving to them as the approached, he kept half behind the door as he waited and then eventually heard the piano playing continue. That was good, he didn’t want her to feel like she had to run and hide as she had in the past when anyone came over. This place was safe, at least as long as Alexandre didn’t decided to drage him out by the hair again. Just in case, he pulled his braid over his shoulder and kept it close so they couldn’t snatch it again.

Wrapping an arm around Alexandre, he leaned his head on top of theirs. “That’s good, I don’t want you two bickering unless its about peonies or choice of drink.” He knew they were both particular on their drinks but he also knew there was an espresso machine here that Liam had used last time. He wasn’t sure if there were any syrups but that didn’t bother him much.

“Of course, what sort of interesting antique furniture have you uncovered under a century of dust this time? And I’ll have the same as last time, a plain espresso. It looks like a herd of dustbunnies have chosen a new home.” Smiling as he pointed towards one that was hanging off their hair. It definitely looked like they had been busy and then he noticed Aloysius in… something that wasn’t at least four layers of fabric and were those… slippers? It was a bit jarring to see but he didn’t say anything and followed Liam to let the other two talk.

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Stepping closer to his fiancé, he brushed the offending dustbunny from their hair and pressed a kiss to their cheek before they decided to head away to show René what they had needed to get looked at. “Thank you Alexandre, Liam and I have been slowly working on things here in my down time without classes to teach.” He wasn’t going to bring up how he’d been injured in space, it hadn’t really been that bad in the grand scheme of things.

“Would you like something to drink as well? I made lemonade and hot tea so far but there are plenty of other options.” Taking a moment to sip from his own cup, the steam caused his glasses to fog up slightly. He’d decided on a berry tea to go along with the berry lemonade he’d made, it felt sort of summery to him and had a nice taste. It was something he had gotten on a whim from the bakery where he got Liam’s tarts and it turned out to be quite nice.

Turning to walk towards the kitchen, he still kept his hair away from the other just in case. Even if they seemed pleasant now, he didn’t want to take any risks once the other two were off to the other room and he was left alone with the blonde. “There are also some desserts in the fridge if you would like, there are fruit tarts and cannoli as well as a few slices of cheesecake.” It had been a new thing he had tried to make and it wasn’t terrible but he might like a different recipe better. He’d try again at some point when he had time but at least Desiree had liked it.

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Playing the piano a bit softer, she listened carefully as two males entered their home. She recognized one of the voices from a few months back but the other was harder to place. It must be the furniture man, the one who teased and also didn’t like Melody. She could agree with that at least so she didn’t have a problem as she heard the pairs splitting up and wandering through the house.

As it was, she still had about half an hour left like this so she was considering making a small appearance maybe, depending on which of her humans needed a bit of interference. It seemed more likely that Aloysius would need it but she was also very curious about what Liam was having the other male look at. Keeping her eyes forward as she practiced, she tried not to look like she was eavesdropping.

Hearing that they were a shopaholic didn’t surprise Aloysius, not really when considering how he saw most of the Evans family well dressed with their decorated homes when he tutored the children in music. It wasn’t something he had really done, not for awhile at least until Liam had gotten him to accept his inheritance a bit more instead of letting it hang over him, tied to the events it led to that had broken him.

Pulling down another glass, he added in some of the small ice balls that had berries in them to it before pouring some of the lemonade. He hesitated for a moment as he offered them the glass, not really trusting them as they brought up the mention of poison. Honestly them bringing it up at all as an option made him trust it less. “Alright, no dessert for you then but René can try some when he finishes up with Liam.”

Going back to his tea, he took a seat at the table and sifted through the box some more. There were some of the language books he had mentioned to Liam awhile back as well as some of the older cook books his Nonna had pulled from. Dusting them off and setting them on the table, he traced his fingers over the embossed cover. “I think I will be fine with what I have for now, thank you for the offer though.” Looking over at them for a moment before shifting the box aside a bit more so it wasn’t blocking them.

“Did you come along because of René or did you have some business here as well?” Speaking a bit cautiously as he sipped his tea again. He wasn’t trying to be cold but he was still was a bit hesitant about their motives for being here. Not that they had shown any signs of committing a repeat of the offense but he would rather be overly cautious than be dragged out of his home. At least now Liam or Desiree could help and intervene if needed. This also was his home and he wanted to make it a bit clear that he didn’t want any trouble here either.

Stretching his long legs out beneath the table, he noticed the other needing to sit oddly to reach things. He paid it no mind as he continued through the books, dusting off another cookbook as they spoke and only pausing at the mention about the space trip and the change of opinion on things by the frenchman. It seemed… fitting that they would scatter at the sign of danger but he didn’t say anythign directly about that.

“It was informative, my lieutenant did well dispatching the things and got to see a bit of space. We all came out unscathed which is good, those creature were vile.” He’d seen what they had done to others as well as the objects in the museum. One of them had gnawed at his skin and spewed acid on his fiancé but luckily nothing had hurt either of them much other than the jolt to his back.

“Space, in theory, is beautiful and could be interesting to see given the fact normal people never get the chance to see it first hand. Those calling cards could be used to see it in earnest without the bugs if either of you use it for that.” He had his card still as he was undecided on how best to use it, there were some ideas floating in his head but nothing set in stone just yet. “I was alright going on my own with my Lieutenant but Liam insisted and it is… very difficult to convince him otherwise once he sets his mind to something.” Sighing, he drank a bit more tea before setting the cup down to open the most recent book he had pulled down. It was a journal from his grandfather about gardening and it was hard to not let on that it was tough looking at. There were illustrations of the different flowers that used to grow here in the past with notes about how to prune and care for them during each season.

Looking up from the book at Alexandre, he thought for a moment and laid the book down and open on the table. His hand lingering on the edges of the page, running over the ragged edges. “He does have some sense you know, he missed much of what has happened so wanting to stick with what he knows makes sense. You also have a habit of getting into fights.” Narrowing his eyes at them for a moment, he traced his finger to the center of one of the pages before turning the whole book for them to look at.

“These roses, the purple ones. That is something I think would be a nice long term goal if you want to make peace after so rudely breaking into my house and interrupting me and my fiancé.” Letting that last word linger, he settled back into his seat a bit.

“Understandable, the entire things was a botched mess. Almadel was wholly disorganized which was displeasing.” It was a s**t show through and through but at least nobody floated out into the abyss and neither Brassite or Melpomene had been injured, just himself.

Not quite letting go of the journal, he did let them pull it closer to get a better look. “Yes, I can make a copy of the notes. The original will stay with me. It will help, though you are still on thin ice after what you did.” They had been in the wrong and he’d stuck by that, the whole thing wouldn’t be easily forgiven or forgotten even if in the end it did lead to his health getting looked at and some more things working out between him and his fiance.

That just wasn’t any of this blonde’s business though. “They were crossbred over the years, the project had been started before I was born and concluded while I was growing up.” Though he wasn’t going to explain why because he still felt an ache in his chest when he thought about things. “With your project relating to plants, I figure this may be a simpler one you can work on that may provide some insight for your own work. You get practice hybriding flowers and I get a bit of something I miss back out here.” Just a hint of that hurt slipped out but then he cleared his throat and went back to sipping tea, acting as if it had been the dust that had bothered him.