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 Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2023 9:54 am
“Is it almost safe enough for us to visit again?” Atticus asked, unable to stop his curiosity as Devyn spoke about Alastor. He knew that it felt as though they’d just come back, and Lucien was still getting settled in, but he had been thinking about it since they went to help Devyn with the Chaos that was plaguing it.
Oh, he supposed it would only be fair if they took Michael and Devyn to their Wonders. And he wanted to bring Oliver and Asher too. Oh, and Lucien and Soleiyu. And Myles and Jeremy and all their friends and -- okay the list was getting a bit long, so he should probably just stick with their immediate family for now.
“Maybe one day we’ll have enough people to help make it like it was before. Then it’ll kind of be like the full experience. I think Alastor is nice enough to live on.” Michael kept an arm around Devyn’s back as Atticus took a step away so he could look up at the two of them. He pressed his fingers into where there was often tension in Devyn’s neck to help relieve it, although there wasn’t too much to be stressed about right now.
“I think that would be fun. It would take a lot of work, but I think it’s a reasonable goal,” he decided, because what would the point of cleaning up Alastor be without having people eventually live there again? Or come out of hiding.
They’d found Lucien, after all. Maybe it was a bit of his optimism revitalized, or maybe it was just Devyn’s optimism, but he wanted to give him as much support as possible, no matter how unlikely it was for people to have survived.
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Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2023 10:15 am
Devyn might have had his doubts every now and then, and though he did his best to brush aside the weight of a thousand years of emotions–most of them unpleasant–sometimes they still crept in. He’d felt unbalanced and lost, and troubled by the arrival of Lucien–a being with his friend’s face and temperament, but not his memory.
The days since had been odd to navigate–not a bad experience, just a different one. The path to another ‘normal’.
Devyn had been in a good mood and returned–at least, mostly–to himself now that Lucien was better settled in and he’d had a bit of time to get used to this ‘new’ old friend of his. His hope remained, revitalized again because there was life on his world. Well hidden, of course, but there. Now, he just needed to find it.
The list of tasks and goals was never ending, but he was undaunted. They could access the island in the sky, now–and, maybe, that meant they had access to the lands across the ocean.
He relaxed into Michael’s touches, and his smile was rejuvenated. “Do you want to go back and visit again soon? I think we can manage that. There’s so much I want to show you. We can visit Villefort, now. I think it’s cleaned up enough that it’s safe. There’s a lot of work to do yet, but I think I’ll always find more if I’m looking for it. I think Alastor’s nice enough to live on. It’s too bad I can’t just invite people here on Earth to move there and help me. Ah, but I’m certain there are others up there already. We’re a hardy group, I’ll find someone who knows how to make my favorite recipes. I suppose I could take some more classes to try and learn, but.” He pressed his lips together in thought and then shook his head.
“I will worry about doing that another day, today we are celebrating you! No work for me, at all. Not even dreaming of it.”
Well, unless that’s what Atticus wanted to talk about for his birthday, because who was Devyn to deny him anything?
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Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2023 10:25 am
It was still a little weird to think that they were spending all this time to celebrate him, but he was happy and he couldn’t keep the smile off his face even if he tried! And he wasn’t crying yet!
Now that he’d given his dads a hug that they deserved, Atticus moved back over to where Elliot was standing so he could take hold of his hand again.
And then he suddenly had a thought. It wasn’t as though his dads hadn’t done something similar before so…
“Can I borrow Elliot for a minute?” he asked almost breathlessly and he knew his cheeks were a little pink. But he couldn’t thank his boyfriend for being so wonderful in front of his dads!
He was already stepping backwards towards the stairs that led to his room. Michael didn’t have to say that he would be happy to be anywhere with Devyn. Just like he’d be happy to be anywhere with Atticus and Elliot. They were both his sons, as far as he was concerned. Especially with how close they were to each other.
There was a slight raise of an eyebrow when Atticus asked to borrow Elliot, because he did not miss how he’d done the same with Devyn the night they brought Lucien back with them.
“Don’t be too long. I think I see the Reids on their way over,” Michael nodded towards the back door where they could see the entire back yard.
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Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2023 11:07 am
Devyn and Elliot each shared a confused glance, but neither offered protest.
“We won’t be long!” Elliot chimed enthusiastically, though he had no idea what Atticus had planned. If they disappeared to his room, Elliot could show off the large bookshelf Michael had helped him build. There was already an empty space in Atticus’ room, they’d measured the shelf to fit there a long time ago but only installed it just now while he and Devyn were out. A few wrapped presents were already waiting for him. He squeezed Atticus’ hand in encouragement.
Devyn nodded at the boys, and though a little smile played on his face, he was still obviously curious about whatever they were up to. “Have fun,” he said, mostly on instinct. He couldn’t help but tilt himself a bit to see if he could see Lucien and the Reids, or if it was just Michael trying to make sure the boys didn’t get distracted and take too long.
Either way, he had plenty of things to keep himself occupied in their absence, between Michael and the decorations.
He was just glad that Atticus seemed to be enjoying himself.
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