notevensorey | IC Inbox

[Ah, he should've expected this. Sorey's heart goes out to them in this situation. His answer is immediate, though still thought out.]

Ethically, I'll need to keep certain observations to myself, but I can at least let you know if I spot anything that might be of great concern to his health. I can give you advice on what might help him be in a better spot, but that's also limited to being somewhat generic. That being said, I'm willing to be his therapist if he wants me to, but that decision must be his to make.

I'm happy to be his friend, though. He's a good person, and I'll do my best to help support him in that way.

That's all I ask.

[He wouldn't want Sorey to compromise his ethics. Jun wouldn't like that, either. Mikleo's mostly worried that he might make things worse by accident, since he doesn't really know how to deal with any of this...

But the thought of Sorey being Jun's friend does make him feel better. Being a seraph's vessel is so isolating...]

The past few days have been really hard for him. I wonder if we can drag him out of his apartment for a used book sale.

[This is also a thinly-veiled excuse to see Sorey, but he won't say it.]

[Ohhh, a book sale! That's definitely gotten Sorey's interest.]

That sounds like fun! I'm going to need to purchase some science books for a project, anyway.

[By project he means Varian, but confidentiality!]

Besides, it's a great chance for you to take a break, too, if you need it. I can understand if this on top of your general situation has been wearing on you.

[No, no, that's accurate.]

I should see if I can find anything relevant myself. Whether it's the fae, or the other things we've been dealing with. I definitely have the time.

[A Kaisou-specific history book might be convenient, but he's pretty sure he'd have to go to the library for that.

Of course, Sorey has to send that and it makes Mikleo stop, blink, and then pinken a bit where he can't be seen.]

I'm fine. Every bit of bad news makes me feel tired; that's pretty normal for a day ending in "y".

[He has been pining nonstop for another chance to see a certain someone and discern if he's the boy from his memories, but he'd rather die than confess that to Sorey of all people.]

Besides, it's hard to be down for long when I'm offered free cupcakes. Maybe you should take a lesson from Jun and have snacks at your appointments.

If you find anything interesting, let me know! I have a feeling the fae will either like me too much or despise me for making a wrong move.

[Like damn. Sorey knows he's not going to win in either case.

Hmm....]

Aww, he's really thoughtful, isn't he? I don't think a candy dish would go amiss, though. That's a good idea! Perhaps nothing with nuts, though. That's such a common allergy and I'd hate to accidentally endanger somebody with that. :(

But if that's making you tired, you can reach out to me, if you want. I can't promise that I'm interesting to talk to, but I'll do my best to help cheer you up!

[Mikleo was about to argue that, but. No. He's right.]

You'd better start thinking of an alias.

[He doesn't want anything bad to happen to Sorey, but he's also like... not in a position to help necessarily... He isn't exactly a fae himself, oaths notwithstanding.]

No one ever complains about nonpareils. Or you could drop in konpeitō as a conversation starter...

[Sadly, Sorey does not offer to bring him cupcakes, which makes him heave such a great sigh he wonders if Jun heard it through the wall.]

Thank you, Sorey, but I don't need cheering up. [you are so fucking stupid but that makes you cuter] However I will take offerings, as is traditional of the seraphim, in return for my blessing.

[Sorey's at least self-aware enough to acknowledge that much.]

Ugh, I just hope it's convincing enough. I'm horrendous at lying.

Haha! Oh, it's so tempting!

[Mikleo, please, he's always been this bad. Last time he had the benefit of knowing you since birth.]

Hmm... My baking will make a very poor offering, unless you somehow like your sweets completely inedible. What would be suitable for your refined taste, O Wise Seraph?

[What could Sorey use for a name that wouldn't—

—oh.]

Mayvin. Tell them your name is Mayvin.

[See, he can be helpful. When he wants to be.]

It doesn't have to be homemade. [Even without hearing him say it, the O Wise Seraph takes him back to another memory.] This seraph particularly enjoys chocolate, cold sweets, pastries of the fancy and non-fancy sort, and ice cream mochi.

[He considers, and then he decides to just go for it. He already basically died once, what more can he lose?]

I'm staying in the apartment next to Jun's. It's a little plain, but the couch is comfortable enough for watching things, if you have the time.

I don't really need food, anyway. It's no fun if I eat by myself.

[!!!]

Oh! That's perfect! Thank you, Mikleo!

[Seriously, Mikleo's the best friend he's never had.]

Ah, so a sweet tooth is what you have. Then I shall offer only the finest quality for a seraph of your caliber. Any less would be an insult.

[Oh! He's being invited to Mikleo's? This seems like the perfect chance, then! The perfect chance for—]

Certainly, I can come over for dinner. I'm honestly not accustomed to living alone quite like this, so having a meal with a friend sounds like a grand time!

[A hang out! Zaveid voice: OH COME ON!!!]

I can't think of a better name for an explorer visiting new, unfamiliar lands.

[Mayvin was dear to his old self, he remembers that.]

You've got the right idea.

[The perfect chance for—... a friendship dinner. SIGH. But, Sorey isn't running and screaming in the opposite direction so it could have gone worse. ... Could have gone better, too. When will Sorey get it through his thick head that Mikleo wants to get to know him better?]

Right. I'm not sure what you like to eat, but if you bring over the ingredients we can make it together.

[And hope it doesn't burn.]

[It does bring him a bittersweet memory, certainly.]

I can think of no better way to honour him.

[Sorry, Mikleo, you've signed up for two seasons or more of shoujo protagonist will-they-won't-they.]

I like a lot of things, to be honest. That said, I'm looking forward to cooking with you! [...] If I suggest shepherd's pie, would that get me kicked out before I even get there?

[He's not sure if the water seraph has remembered that aspect of their past life or not. It's definitely the most surefire way to tell that they're from the same world. Only one of the seraphim or two Squires with him at the time would understand the joke.]

[Wait, does Sorey remember—

Of course, then he whips out the worst joke he's heard in like, two years. Mikleo groans audibly.]

I'm thinking about it.

[a minute later:]

If a seraph makes it, is it still the Shepherd's pie?

[Despite this, however, he's feeling secretly (not so secretly) very happy about this development. Mikleo has had a long time to learn what he was like before, to dream, to lean into the life that came for his human one with a vengeance. He's carefully viewed and sorted all of these memories like the dutiful scholar that he is.

But this is the first time he's really able to... use them for anything. To connect with other people through them, instead of having those memories and circumstances split him apart from everyone else.

... Feels nice, actually.]

[Sorey is almost certain he's botched it all up. That is, until Mikleo's response. Then he's laughing.]

I think so, technically! I'll grab the ingredients before I come over.

[The brunet heads out to the store to purchase those ingredients. He also takes a moment to stop by a baker's shop and picks up a small, red velvet ice cream cake. Sorey takes his purchases up with him to Mikleo's apartment, knocking politely on the door.]

[Mikleo is a little surprised he wanted to come over today, but he's not complaining. He sends off a quick text to Jun letting him know what's going on, and then zooms around the apartment to straighten things up a little before Sorey arrives.

The apartment is put together from what was left behind by previous tenants and salvageable dives left out for the apartment trash man to take. The star of which is a big long comfy couch that tends to suck people in. Just ignore the coffee stains... There's also some blankets and pillows shopped off Amazon, an older but mostly functional flatscreen propped up on a scratched up shelf, and someone's abandoned IKEA coffee table.

The kitchen has the basics, mismatched as they are, and everything is organized neatly by cupboard and drawer. The only thing is there's not a lot of... food just left hanging around. Plenty of water in the fridge, though, and some juice, but it's almost like there isn't a lot of living going on in this apartment outside of sci-fi binge-watching.

When he hears the knock, he shuffles over to the door and opens it. He's wearing something besides the labcoat this time-- it's his old adventuring outfit, with the shiny gold accents and delicate sleeves.]

... Hey.

[It's funny, standing face to face with someone you've been waiting for, for hundreds of years. For a moment all of his words desert him. It isn't even like he hasn't seen Sorey before, but this time the context is entirely different. Everything in his chest winds taut and threatens to snap.

And then it passes, leaving Mikleo to remember that time doesn't actually freeze when he's thinking. He holds out his hands to grab whatever can be handed to him easily.]

Uh—come in, you can set it on the counter in the kitchen.

[He has two barstools. They don't match, but he does have them.]

[Sorey is wearing casual clothes that are a bit loose on him. As you do. It's a simple blue, cotton t-shirt with short sleeves, and faded blue jeans that fit him almost perfectly. The feather earrings he's wearing are definitely familiar.

Seeing Mikleo in that extremely familiar outfit says all that's needed to be said. This is the boy from his memories. The one he's always wanted to thank for giving him strength when it was flagging. He's grateful and relieved to have him back in his life, though he doesn't want to put too much emphasis on the past. They should have the room to grow into their own people in this life, no matter where that path takes them.

The brunet beams at him.]

Evening, Mikleo!

[He manages to stop himself from saying something embarrassing again, like how Mikleo looks beautiful or dashing. Nope! Sorey will not let his filter go down again so easily!

The poor man, though. He seems at a loss for words for a moment, or perhaps lost in his memories? It's difficult to tell sometimes. Still, when Mikleo holds his hands out, it's the perfect opportunity for Sorey to take out the ice cream cake and give it to him.]

A gift for you. I promised, didn't I?

[Sorey will enter the apartment, taking it all in, and places the bag of ingredients for shepherd's pie on the countertop.]

You did a marvelous job with the place. It feels homey.

[The feather earrings... his eyes linger just a little too long on them. Seems like they've both gotten some gifts from "home". He's blinded momentarily by that smile, though. He-- wants to return it, but as usual Mikleo is a little too serious in every situation. It doesn't help that his heart is going wild inside his chest right now. (Or he thinks it is? It's not as if he's about to rip himself open to find out.)

He looks down at the cake that has been placed in his hands.]

Wait, you... you actually brought something. I didn't think—

[Of course Sorey would take it seriously. But really, the most important thing here is Sorey himself. Mikleo pinkens considerably and tries to sprint on the hamster wheel in his head to catch up.]

... Thank you. [He clears his throat and turns to lead Sorey inside.] Your offering has been found acceptable.

[Homey? Is he just saying that to be nice? Mikleo's too short to hang anything on the walls beyond the single Star Trek poster he found at the thrift store.]

It's not much, but it's comfortable. You'd be surprised at how hard it is to move furniture around here when you're invisible.

[He sets the ice cream cake in the freezer to chill for a bit. He can always take it out when they're ready to eat dessert and do his ice thing.]

This looks like everything. [He looks over the ingredients, then up at Sorey.] I suppose we'll just have to make sure this pie is worthy of a Shepherd.

[Once again he feels like his jokes fall a little flat. His eyes shift to the side as he thinks for a moment.]

... This is real, isn't it?

[Sorey sees the surprise, and Mikleo trying to protest it, but then the seraph thanks him instead.]

Wonderful! Then I've been blessed this day.

[His eyes soften a little.]

You did a bang-up job. This is something to be proud of.

[His friend's joke does still earn a quiet chuckle from the brunet, but... he can tell that his heart isn't really in it. So Sorey waits for Mikleo to speak again, and the question makes his heart hurt a little.]

I can say it's real until I'm blue in the face, but words aren't enough, are they? [Mikleo seems like the type to prefer actions. Something tangible that he can see or touch.] Whatever proof you need that this is, in fact, real, I'll give to you.

I don't know about proud, but I like having the space. [His quarters were always so spartan before this, like he was afraid of settling in. But he isn't sure how long he'll be with Jun, and he actually wants to relax a little now that he has the time (and has to adhere to a normal person sleeping schedule), so... here it is. It's nothing like his old room he had as a teenager, but he's not sure recreating that would help anyone, honestly.

He pushes that out of his mind and focuses on the present. Yet another token of an old life, a much older life, now stands before him. Mikleo had dreamed of this day for a little over a decade, but that didn't prepare him... not for any of it.

He looks at Sorey and his memories fill in with the details before him. The small rounded bit of his nose, cheeks softer, a jaw not yet chiseled... but the resemblance is obvious. Not a boy, but a man, yet still wearing the same dangly feathered earrings he had as child.

Mikleo closes his eyes for a moment. He doesn't need to breathe but he still does it to steady himself, because all of the emotions he's carried with him across two worlds have all clambered to the surface to remind him of how lonely he's been.]

... Give me your hand.

[Mikleo can't ask for Sorey to remember his true name, but Mikleo will surely know by the feeling of the hand that he held in his for years.]

Edited 2023-03-05 03:27 (UTC)

[Sorey waits patiently for Mikleo. He doesn't remember as much as his friend does, and he's beginning to see why. He's walking a much different path than his past life did, unable to trigger those memories. Rather than wandering ruins and remembering the echoes of Sorey's past, Slade has gone in a different direction. History has become his hobby rather than his passion, his life, his career.

Despite that, or perhaps because of it, the brunet isn't going to let that stop him from reaching out and reconnecting with Mikleo. No matter their experiences in this life, he's certain that they're still the same people at their core.

So when the seraph asks for his hand, Sorey doesn't hesitate. He reaches out to take Mikleo's hand. Definitely platonic handholding, even if he is marveling to himself at how soft and familiar this feels!]

[Mikleo has had a lot of time to remember, too. He's spent countless nights dreaming of laying beneath a sky so filled with endless stars, the darkness in between may as well have not existed. Hidden discoveries in temples so ancient they don't have a name. The scent of old tobacco in the old man's pipe. The feeling of dusty pages beneath their fingertips as they pored over the Celestial Record.

He isn't that boy anymore, and hasn't been for a long time, but the memories are so strong and so tangible that he simply can't speak at all. It comes back to him as a flood, his mind filling in the rest of the blanks: Sorey as he smiled up at them, and Mikleo floated away; Sorey's sad expression when he thought no one was looking; the knot between the Shepherd's brows when he thought he could get away with making decisions for Mikleo. And the two of them standing atop a grassy cliff in the same sunny spot, with all of Glenwood rolling out beneath them, half-shrouded in fog.

He remembers that last night, too.

I forget who said it. That there are as many emotions as stars in the sky. I can totally see that. Sorey had often looked at the sky while they journeyed.

A metaphor for how each emotion sparkles in its own way, huh? Must’ve been a romantic who came up with that one. (Mikleo hadn't been looking at the sky at all.)

There is no doubt that the man before him is his Sorey, even with his soft hands and the slightly sharper lines of his silhouette. He might not recall everything about Mikleo but it's enough, it's enough, and the slight trembling of his pale hands tells everything in his heart. But the seraph can't move. He's paralyzed, head bowed, his feet rooted in place by the appearance of the person he's been missing for years.

He can only stand there silently as tears roll down his cheeks.]

Edited (SRY IM DONE I SWEAR) 2023-03-05 17:17 (UTC)

[Sorey might not remember, not as completely, but he does remember how important Mikleo is to him. So, to feel his hands tremble with emotion, head bowed and tears streaking his pretty face, the brunet can only act on instinct. Gently, he pulls the seraph into a tight hug.]

I'm here.

[A simple reassurance, yet it carries so much emotion between them in this moment. He's here. They've found each other. Sorey's missed him so much. He's missed that close friendship, the friend who never made fun of him for his interests. In a way, part of Slade had been jealous that Sorey had a friend who didn't do something so cruel. Since then, he's made his peace with that side and has accepted the experience for what it is. He's grown wiser for it, and that makes it valuable.

Maybe with Mikleo's help, Sorey can make peace with the entirety of his past life; with the guilt that even though he'd done everything he could, the world still found its end and it may have been his fault. In part or in full. Everything must die, but he'll never know for sure if the end for his world had been a natural one or artificially hastened.]

[The hug tugs him right out of the torrent of memories and back into the present where he belongs. He makes a small, pathetic noise like a gasp, only to have it hijacked for a sob. He hates how weak he sounds. He's always tried to—he's always been one to hold it together, to support Sorey and show him the way and not to falter himself, but damn it he has feelings too, and he can't run away from them any longer. Not when the center of his universe has him in such inescapable gravity.

He doesn't resist as much as he'd love to, just buries his face into that warm shoulder, those welcoming arms; his pale fingers feel so small, worried into the front of his shirt as they are. He's waited so long. That loss has become part of him, engraved on his heart as much as his love and his patience, and the promise that they would meet once again.

And they have. Another life, another world, but the same love.

How foolish he's been.

He doesn't sob like that again, but he's still tearful and sniffly enough that he doesn't want to come up for air yet. It's only a minute later that he wriggles a little so he can say something against Sorey's shoulder.]

You're here.

[He can't look up at that sweet face just yet.]

... Sorry. I said all that stuff about us being different people, but it—it always hurt the same.

[Sorey feels his heart hurt for Mikleo when he hears that sob. He rubs at the seraph's back soothingly. Perhaps in the past he's always relied on his friend for his stalwart support, but the brunet wants to show him that he can do that for Mikleo, too. He can be a strong pillar to lean against when it's too much.

The brunet starts to hum softly, like his mom used to do whenever he got scared or extremely upset. Even as a teenager, she'd do that for him. Sometimes, a hug and a song help to soothe one's broken heart. He just hopes that Mikleo can use this as a soothing balm.

He only stops his humming when Mikleo addresses him. His voice is gentle when he speaks in answer.]

How can I blame you for hurting? I mean... I missed you, too. Even with my incomplete memories, I felt your absence all the same.

[The humming is so cute... and it does help calm him down. He finally lets go of Sorey's shirt so he can wipe his tears on the backs of his hands. He doesn't try to break away, however. He doesn't want this moment to end, not yet.

His friend's voice is so soft and gentle that it makes him ache. He feels cursed and blessed all at the same time-- blessed to have him, cursed to know that this happiness wasn't fated for them in the last world... or at least, he doesn't remember a happy ending. Or an ending at all.

He breathes in, steadies himself, and finally looks up. His fuchsia eyes are terribly wet, even for a water seraph.]

I keep thinking that I should have been there. Whatever you were going through, whatever happiness or pain you felt, I should have shared it with you. Instead I was halfway across the world, gallivanting around ruins and wondering why I always kept looking over my shoulder like I'd see someone.

[He swallows hard.]

I still want... this. Whether it's getting to know you all over again, or picking up where we left off or somewhere in between—I want you in my life, as long as you want to be in mine.

[His fuchsia eyes are still as beautiful as he remembers. More so in that he's seeing them for real, but... bad thoughts. Sorey isn't completely sure that there isn't someone else in Mikleo's life. The man deserves whoever he wants to bring him the joy he deserves, even if it's not Sorey.

Still, seeing how watery his eyes are, the brunet reaches into his pocket and pulls out a handkerchief, offering it to Mikleo. He's... learned to carry them around, just in case.]

Heh, I don't know where we left off, to be honest. I think it'd be a disservice to ourselves if we continue to live as if we were in the past. [Yet, he's still smiling.] Let's get to know each other as we are. I want you in my life, absolutely, but I want to learn who you are in this life. I want to celebrate your differences from the seraph I knew.

[A touch of sadness reaches his green eyes.]

I mean, it's only fair, isn't it? I'm sure I'm not exactly the Sorey you remember. I was born Slade Shepard in London, after all, not Sorey from Elysia.

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