[Alec saying such things... It makes Henry want to guarantee that he'll always be near. Always beside him, like now. His fingers flex in a gentle squeeze around his hand, as though to cement him there with the gesture.]
I hated that place. I never thought of it as home, not really.
[And yet it's still important to him. It's why it still exists, ravaged, in his mindscape.]
But it's still an important place in my memories. And I want to show you everything important to me.
[ Though he has no way to know exactly what Henry is thinking, he returns that small squeeze without so much as a second thought. It feels so utterly selfish to want to stay close like this, to seek out little moments of contact and gestures of affection, but what are they both if not selfish creatures? Were it anyone else but Henry next to him, Alec might think he doesn't deserve this kind of warmth.
Because it is Henry, it's perfect. A pair of broken pieces, sticking together. ]
Everything, huh? [ Seems like a tall order, but there's already so much he knows about Henry. He'd be lying if he said he didn't want to know more. ] I'd like that.
[All the ugly pieces. The parts where they align more perfectly than the rest. He still has a few skeletons in his closet; not that he ever feels the need to hide anything from Alec anymore, anyway.
But maybe some other time.]
Something to look forward to. But for now, I'd like to focus on this place. Your home, and this frankly impressive river.
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Weeks that somehow feel like months.]Like I said, only if you want. Take me wherever, you know I'll go.
[ Henry's subconscious, his dreams, his memories. A zoo exhibit full of spiders. Doesn't matter. ]
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I hated that place. I never thought of it as home, not really.
[And yet it's still important to him. It's why it still exists, ravaged, in his mindscape.]
But it's still an important place in my memories. And I want to show you everything important to me.
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Because it is Henry, it's perfect. A pair of broken pieces, sticking together. ]
Everything, huh? [ Seems like a tall order, but there's already so much he knows about Henry. He'd be lying if he said he didn't want to know more. ] I'd like that.
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[All the ugly pieces. The parts where they align more perfectly than the rest. He still has a few skeletons in his closet; not that he ever feels the need to hide anything from Alec anymore, anyway.
But maybe some other time.]
Something to look forward to. But for now, I'd like to focus on this place. Your home, and this frankly impressive river.
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[ Said with a grin, another one of those strangely genuine expressions that have found its way onto his face today.
But the shores of Lake Michigan can also wait. ]
Come on. I'll show you my usual route, then we can head out of here before you get a nosebleed all over the bed.
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But even his little well-intentioned barbs don't feel as prickly today. And so Henry just concedes with a-]
Probably for the best.
[-and will go wherever Alec takes him for the remainder of this visit.
What a nice little mind date.]