reverie⚡inbox

[striketwice]

REVERIE INBOX "THIS IS ALEC. MAKE IT QUICK." ⚡ voice . text . action ↳ OVERFLOW | REGISTRY

( code from supersuits )

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[striketwice]

[ Being someone's everything is still such an alien idea to him, that his chest constricts every time Henry drives home that point. But still— ]

Still, I'm just saying. You're allowed to have friends. Even if we don't— [ vague hand motions ] —get along.

[vecna]

I know.

[Of course he knows that. Alec's priorities have always revolved around giving him freedom and agency he never really had before. He doesn't expect butting heads with one of Henry's friends will change that.]

Alec. I'll never think that you're trying to control or manipulate me. Or take something away because it inconveniences you. [Which is very, very ironic. Because he could just ask nicely for anything, and Henry would do it.] I trust you more than that. So don't worry.

[striketwice]

[ They have both got it so bad. ]

Okay, okay. I get it. I've never done this before, can you tell?

[vecna]

Really? Never?

[His brow arches. Henry's ever "done this before" either, but mainly because he'd been trapped in a lab and a hellscape for a number of years. And also because what well-adjusted person would want to date Henry Creel, Tentacle Monster. But he isn't sure what he expected from Alec, and he finds himself direly curious now.]

[striketwice]

Yes, never.

[ He's a little baffled that it apparently wasn't obvious, but maybe it was only obvious to him in his own head. ]

I never really had the time or inclination for romance. People are— they're supposed to be traps, remember?

[vecna]

[Oh, yes, he remembers. And though he would never have expected Alec to be one for very serious relationships (not until him, apparently, and how utterly sublime that is to know), he thought there might have been a fling or two in there along the way.

I mean, just look at him.]

I remember. You must have disappointed a lot of people, then.

[You know, turning down the interest you can't convince him didn't exist, undoubtedly flung in Alec's direction. It's actually a little delightful to think about.]

[striketwice]

[ Flings are different. Flings are easy. The girls around the Griffonix teasingly call him a one-night stand artist, and Alec doesn't prove them wrong. He has long mastered the art of slipping out of a prospective partner's house while they still lay sleeping. ]

Better to get it over with early on.

[ Because the things Alec does, the type of person he is, will always prove to be a disappointment. To everyone but Henry, it seems. ]

[vecna]

[Ah, the words of someone who expects to disappoint other people. Henry knows it when he sees it, hears it. He's a master of teasing out painful, raw things, though he doesn't ever mean to with Alec.

But they've seen each other's core, the insecurities that lie buried deep, deep beneath. He knows when he treads upon something a little less unsteady than the rest, purposeful or not.]

...If they can't appreciate every part of you [even the sharp edges, the ugliness, the anger] then yes. They're not worth the time.

[striketwice]

[ Truly that's not a sentiment he ever expected to have turned his way. He always thought that the second he let someone close, close enough to see the twisted mess of his heart, that it would become more about the things he should change. Any sensible person would want him to be better, and when he failed to do that, they would simply leave him behind.

And that would be just what he deserves.

Instead, he's found someone just as twisted and broken as himself. Someone who doesn't ask for more than that. What an absolutely bizarre twist of fate, but he wouldn't trade this for the world. Better is for other people. This is all he needs. ]

It hardly matters now, anyway. Just bear with me. I'm trying to figure out how to navigate caring about somebody this much.

[vecna]

[Broken pieces fitting together just right.

It’s Henry’s turn to reach out, turning Alec’s face gently so that he meets his own red-blue gaze dead on.]

Bear with you? You have all the time you need, because I’m never leaving you.

[striketwice]

[ This feeling of constricting warmth might not ever leave him, if Henry keeps saying things like that. ]

I'm holding you to that, Henry.

[vecna]

[A shared feeling. A light chuckle as he drops his hand down, if just to rest against Alec’s ribs.]

I won’t disappoint. [You’re stuck with him.] And besides, I had meant what I said as a compliment. That you must’ve disappointed people because you’ve deprived them of such handsome company.

[striketwice]

What did I tell you about flattery?

[ It will get him nowhere, mostly because he truly has nowhere left to go. ]

[vecna]

Hmm. That you love to hear it?

[striketwice]

Very rarely. And only from you.

[vecna]

[Lips quirking. He’s just going to lie his head back down, now.]

Now who’s the flatterer?

[striketwice]

[ Alec is going to go back to toying with Henry's hair, then. ]

How is that flattering?

[vecna]

[Then he’s just going to enjoy that sensation — relaxing, but sometimes still enough to send a tingle down his spine.]

That I’m singular. Special, in that you’ll only accept those kinds of compliments from me.

[striketwice]

[ He hums a little, the sound caught somewhere between thoughtful and amused. ]

You're singular and special in a lot of ways.

[vecna]

[Ha, well. He could take that in a lot of different ways, too. Wry-]

One of a kind. [get it]

[striketwice]

[ A flat look. ]

That's not what I meant.

[vecna]

[He knows he didn’t.]

Then what?

[But maybe he just likes to hear it spoken.]

[striketwice]

Where do I even start with you, Henry?

[ There's a lot. ]

You're the only person who know what happened to my mom. The only one who understands the nature of what I do... of who I am. You're the first person I've ever let willingly into my head. The first person I've fallen asleep next to in a long, long time.

You're the only person I've ever loved.

[vecna]

[In his adult years, Henry never doubted that he was different, or special, though there has never been a time in his life when he wanted this to apply more to a single person — someone who would view him that way, as preciously as he views him in turn.

Each and every item on that figurative list is elevating. Not that there was ever any doubt by now, but it means that they are secure in each other’s hearts, and what better way to feel safe, and close, and to have his life so blissfully tangled up in Alec’s?]

Privileges, all of them. I won’t squander any of it.

[And he means that. His chest feels tight again.]

I feel like I could make a little list of things for you, too.

[striketwice]

Since we're listing things? Sure, go ahead.

[ He suspects that he was a first for Henry in many, many ways, though he's always been a bit curious about the scope of it. ]