[ Henry meets his gaze, and something sparks between them. That same live wire, thrumming undeterred. Even if they wanted to, it feels like there's no pulling away from one another's orbit. Whatever this is, they're in it for good. Which is just as well because Alec would rather things stay the way they are. Broken pieces sticking together.
The corners of his mouth lift, ever so slightly. ]
[Yes, there it is again. That gravity he has, the one that Henry has slowly become so, so malleable against. Moments like these verify what he already inherently knows: he’s the one caught in Alec’s orbit, not the other way around. If this man is his anchor, then he goes where he goes — to a completely different world if he has to. That’s an easy, easy decision. The easiest he’s ever had to make.
His world isn’t his home anymore, after all. Maybe it never was.
Alec smiles at him, so faintly, and Henry wants to reach out and touch him. He is self-aware enough to resist that urge, but it makes him feel restless in his seat, just sitting here, looking at him.]
...Good. Then it’s settled. The last thing I would ever be is disappointed. I know I won’t regret it.
[ It is so, so weird to know that when Henry says he'd have no regrets — no regrets over following Alec, sharing his space or his company — he means it. Henry tells a lot of half-truths. He lies by omission enough to give Alec a run for his money, and yet... this is genuine. He knows it is, some way. Somehow. ]
[Utterly genuine. Henry spins lies and half-truths as gracefully as a spider spins a web, but he has always been clear about what he wants.
He’s looking at him right now.
And the sentiment returned does so little to guide his focus back to his food.]
Then all that’s left to figure out are the logistics. What exactly happens when I go back with you?
[He has no idea what Alec’s community is like, other than very secret. What other psychics are like. (Probably not like him.) He doesn’t really know what Alec’s day-to-day life is like, either.]
[ Alec's given some mild thought to the logistics of bringing Henry with him, though not anything super detailed. He shrugs. ]
Well, I guess the first matter of business would be to figure out how long I've actually been gone and hope it's not long enough that my landlord's pissed at me.
[The telling pause of a man who’s never had that option given to him. The sense that it's something he's always wanted, but idea itself is so strangely unwieldy, all the same.]
Just like that? You’d let me do whatever I felt like?
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striketwice) wrote2022-10-02 07:47 pm
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The corners of his mouth lift, ever so slightly. ]
You're not.
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His world isn’t his home anymore, after all. Maybe it never was.
Alec smiles at him, so faintly, and Henry wants to reach out and touch him. He is self-aware enough to resist that urge, but it makes him feel restless in his seat, just sitting here, looking at him.]
...Good. Then it’s settled. The last thing I would ever be is disappointed. I know I won’t regret it.
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Guess that makes two of us, then.
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He’s looking at him right now.
And the sentiment returned does so little to guide his focus back to his food.]
Then all that’s left to figure out are the logistics. What exactly happens when I go back with you?
[He has no idea what Alec’s community is like, other than very secret. What other psychics are like. (Probably not like him.) He doesn’t really know what Alec’s day-to-day life is like, either.]
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Well, I guess the first matter of business would be to figure out how long I've actually been gone and hope it's not long enough that my landlord's pissed at me.
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Will your landlord not take “I was kidnapped and held prisoner in a dream reality for an indeterminate amount of time” as an excuse?
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[ And Alec isn't about to let anybody think he's crazy, thanks. ]
Beyond that, I guess we'll need to see if you end up in my world looking human or not.
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And if I don’t? I’m guessing there’s magic for that problem.
[“Problem.” He’s not sure how he’d prefer it, actually — to stay human, or to return to what he was.]
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All things that are easy enough to do, with the right connections. Which I have.
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These connections of yours, though. They won’t ask too many questions about me?
[Then again, Alec did say he’d be far from the weirdest thing there.]
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[ A beat, as he realizes he might have gotten a bit ahead of himself here. ]
I should mention, my contacts are magical. My landlord is not.
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I figured as much when you said the inter-dimensional kidnapping excuse wouldn’t work.
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[He's not going to go blabbing about magic to his landlord.]
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[If Henry can manage "normal", at least.]
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[ Alec's confident that Henry can fake it!! ]
After all the paperwork stuff is out of the way, then... I guess you just get to do whatever you want.
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Just like that? You’d let me do whatever I felt like?
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[ He figures that Henry won't have a reason to go around terrorizing teenagers or wantonly murdering in his world. So like. Go wild. ]
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Because no one’s ever let me do that before. You forget that I’ve spent all my life feeling imprisoned.
[To finally be free — no, his priorities would not be terrorizing teens, anymore. Imagine that.]
I don’t know what I would do.
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[ He shrugs a little, turning his attention back to his half-eaten lunch for another bite or two. ]
Well, that's not something you need to figure out right this second anyway. Maybe something will come to you when we actually get there.
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You’re right. There’s time.
[Maybe he’ll be struck by inspiration, living in a new world. He wonders.]
I suppose we need to find a way out of here first, anyway.
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[Nice, he means.]
It's something to look forward to.
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[ He motions to Henry's plate. ]
You gonna finish that?
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