[Henry can’t quite bring himself to fully smile, despite his years of practice, but his lips do quirk at the corners just enough to quality as positive. In the wake of everything shifting to make room for this new connection, this unspoken promise, his mind is still in the process of cementing it as reality.]
...I guess you do have the advantage there.
[Behind them, the flames ravaging Vecna’s skin devour him completely. The grandfather clocks seated in the trees are gone, like they never existed. (They didn’t.)
But with a roar, those same flames vanish, guttering out completely — left in Vecna’s place is a young boy, a twelve year-old Henry. Bright eyes, all awkward, lanky limbs. He looks at them both, strangely content, and says:]
Good. You finally get something you want, Henry.
[And he, too, soon disappears in a burst of bright, golden sparkles, sparkling upwards through the night sky.]
[ Alec breathes out a sound that might almost be considered a laugh, though the roar of flames soon catches his attention. He turns to watch the fire crawl over Vecna's form, immolating him, changing him. The boy that looks at them both is unmistakably Henry, Alec can see it in his eyes. That contentment is like a physical force that reaches out and grabs him, constricting tight around his ribs.
Since when has anyone ever looked at him like that? Like they have something to be grateful for?
Good thing he's not the one who has to do anything with this scene, because he wouldn't even know where to start. ]
[Henry wouldn’t know what to do, either, were it not for a single, floating tarot card left in the wake of those dissipating motes of light. It spins gently, pulling at something at the back of his mind, beckoning.
There’s almost too much to process right now, but it’s easy to follow instinct. Henry steps forward, and then again, and when he reaches the card he plucks it out of the air with forefinger and thumb.
Turning it over in his hand, its illustration reveals the Tower arcana.]
Alec, look at this.
[It feels… strange. Like something too, too familiar. Something lost. The realization will crash into him soon.]
[The strange sensation and its striking familiarity comes upon him in a wave. It would be utterly shocking if not for all that had happened to him just moments ago — as it stands, this revelation is a dull throb of recognition through his bones.]
This is the rest of my… power.
[
Never mind, it is shocking. He cuts a sharp gaze straight at Alec, holding the tarot card tightly between his fingers.]
My abilities. What’s gone missing, or the rest of what’s been stolen away. [The parts of him that are dampened and require so much more effort than before.]
[Oh, he doesn't need further encouraging. In fact, Henry remembers quite clearly how the Lovers card had worked post-elevator game. Sprezzatura had simply willed to use hers, and it had dispersed in a simmer of flame.
Well, he tries the same, his look fixed on the intricate illustration of the Tower with its crumbling stone freshly struck by lightning.
[Awkward is right. What’s he supposed to say? Henry slips the tarot card into his back pocket as though buying time with the few moments of silence to decide. Falling back into amicable politeness is the habit, but Henry can only manage maybe ten percent of the usual, just enough to smooth away the crease at his brow.
[Said like it should be obvious—the only ones that Alec might say something to—but Henry knows the other man isn’t lying. His secret is safe, unless he wants to shatter this strange new sense of trust between them. What Alec saw and heard was an exposed nerve on display. He likely knows better than to be… careless with it.]
But thank you.
[The ever rare thank you, a sincere one, from Henry Creel.
[ Alec's whole business is secrets. He knows well which to keep and which should see the light of day. This is the former, something personal and painful that he knows better than to drag out into the open.
The last thing he expects is thanks for sticking his nose into the whole mess. It's just as well that Henry doesn't know what to say after that, either, because Alec is at a loss for words. He just... looks at the other man. Where does that leave them? ]
I... I dunno. I guess the offer's out there, if you want it.
[ If there’s no place for you in your own world, find a different one. ]
[This is likely something that needs actual clarifying between them, yes. But at the same time, that connection is already forged on Henry’s end — there is a primal part of him that, if flung back into the Upside Down right this very second, would tear a million holes in every multiversal veil to find Alec again. At some level, he knows this now.
But Alec will probably take to a simple conversation better than unveiling that feeling verging on infatuated mania or obsession, so.
Instead:]
Will what I am be an issue?
[Alec would know that Henry doesn’t mean psychic.]
[ Alec chuckles. Not in any sort of dismissive way. It's a surprisingly light sounds that comes from him, standing here next to grave markers and a patch of charred earth where Henry's Shadow once stood. ]
I mean this with absolute sincerity. You would be one of the least weird things around.
[He wonders what kind of world Alec comes from, where a man twisted up into a monster, controlling other monsters, would be considered so mundane. Some insane part of him is almost indignant. The rest of him feels like taut wire uncoiling.
Somehow, he thought this would be harder concession. Like admitting to it would tear him in half. But now, somehow after confronting that strange version of himself, it doesn’t feel so monumental for him to accept an offer like this one.
And maybe—for everyone’s sake—that’s a good thing.]
Then if you’ll have me… I think I would like to go with you. Back to your world.
[ Living around magic does that. He'd probably have to set Henry up with some kind of glamour just so he could be mildly functional, but it wouldn't be the first or last time someone walked around in Alec's world wearing only the guise of humanity.
It's strange that he feels a mote of relief when Henry agrees. In part, perhaps, because he's just spared another world from Henry's reign of tyranny or whatever the fuck, but more because... it feels like maybe he's forged something worth keeping, and now he gets to keep it.
[Oh. Ohhhh, sir, you cannot say those kinds of things to Henry when he is so freshly raw from his Shadow experience, when he’s newly affixed so much of his attentions to you. He’s rooting himself deep — or is it the other way around?
(A promise. No one’s ever promised him anything like this before.)
Alec’s hand feels so warm; Henry's forgotten to let go.]
[ No going back. Somehow it doesn't feel as daunting or as earth-shattering as he thought it might to all but invite someone into his life. Maybe because there's already no secrets here. Every broken edge is already on display, and neither of them have turned away from that.
What the fuck. He's never promised anything like this to anyone before.
His gaze drifts back down to their joined hands and lingers there a moment. Eventually, he loosens his grip and slides his hand away. ]
Guess we'd better really work on getting out of here, huh?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
striketwice) wrote2022-10-02 07:47 pm
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...I guess you do have the advantage there.
[Behind them, the flames ravaging Vecna’s skin devour him completely. The grandfather clocks seated in the trees are gone, like they never existed. (They didn’t.)
But with a roar, those same flames vanish, guttering out completely — left in Vecna’s place is a young boy, a twelve year-old Henry. Bright eyes, all awkward, lanky limbs. He looks at them both, strangely content, and says:]
Good. You finally get something you want, Henry.
[And he, too, soon disappears in a burst of bright, golden sparkles, sparkling upwards through the night sky.]
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Since when has anyone ever looked at him like that? Like they have something to be grateful for?
Good thing he's not the one who has to do anything with this scene, because he wouldn't even know where to start. ]
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There’s almost too much to process right now, but it’s easy to follow instinct. Henry steps forward, and then again, and when he reaches the card he plucks it out of the air with forefinger and thumb.
Turning it over in his hand, its illustration reveals the Tower arcana.]
Alec, look at this.
[It feels… strange. Like something too, too familiar. Something lost. The realization will crash into him soon.]
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I am looking at it. What is it?
[ Apart from a tarot card. Tarot cards are kind of a theme in this place, huh? ]
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This is the rest of my… power.
[
Never mind, it is shocking. He cuts a sharp gaze straight at Alec, holding the tarot card tightly between his fingers.]
My abilities. What’s gone missing, or the rest of what’s been stolen away. [The parts of him that are dampened and require so much more effort than before.]
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[ Rhetorical question. Henry has more than explained it. ]
That's good, right? Might as well use it.
1/2
Well, he tries the same, his look fixed on the intricate illustration of the Tower with its crumbling stone freshly struck by lightning.
Nothing: happens.]
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I know they're in here.
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And nothing happens. ]
Maybe it's defective.
[ NOT HELPING. ]
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SHAKES-]
You had better hope not. This is a chance to return home -- or at least leave this place.
[-THE CARD!!!]
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Either way, I'll be keeping this close for when it does have use.
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Seems wise. So... [ AWKWARD ] You okay?
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Barely.]
It’s not how I expected the night to turn out.
[Understatement.]
Don’t tell anyone else… about all of this.
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Who the hell would I even tell? It's fine. Your secret's safe with me.
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[Said like it should be obvious—the only ones that Alec might say something to—but Henry knows the other man isn’t lying. His secret is safe, unless he wants to shatter this strange new sense of trust between them. What Alec saw and heard was an exposed nerve on display. He likely knows better than to be… careless with it.]
But thank you.
[The ever rare thank you, a sincere one, from Henry Creel.
Moments stretch again.]
So where does this leave us?
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The last thing he expects is thanks for sticking his nose into the whole mess. It's just as well that Henry doesn't know what to say after that, either, because Alec is at a loss for words. He just... looks at the other man. Where does that leave them? ]
I... I dunno. I guess the offer's out there, if you want it.
[ If there’s no place for you in your own world, find a different one. ]
To come back with me if we ever get out of here.
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But Alec will probably take to a simple conversation better than unveiling that feeling verging on infatuated mania or obsession, so.
Instead:]
Will what I am be an issue?
[Alec would know that Henry doesn’t mean psychic.]
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I mean this with absolute sincerity. You would be one of the least weird things around.
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Somehow, he thought this would be harder concession. Like admitting to it would tear him in half. But now, somehow after confronting that strange version of himself, it doesn’t feel so monumental for him to accept an offer like this one.
And maybe—for everyone’s sake—that’s a good thing.]
Then if you’ll have me… I think I would like to go with you. Back to your world.
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It's strange that he feels a mote of relief when Henry agrees. In part, perhaps, because he's just spared another world from Henry's reign of tyranny or whatever the fuck, but more because... it feels like maybe he's forged something worth keeping, and now he gets to keep it.
He offers Henry a hand. ]
Sounds like a deal to me.
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A deal? Like a business transaction? And what am I giving you in return?
[But he reaches out anyway, long fingers grasping around Alec’s hand.]
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Maybe deal isn't quite right.
[ His eyes flick back up to Henry's. ]
Call it a promise.
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(A promise. No one’s ever promised him anything like this before.)
Alec’s hand feels so warm; Henry's forgotten to let go.]
...All right. A promise.
[No going back.]
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What the fuck. He's never promised anything like this to anyone before.
His gaze drifts back down to their joined hands and lingers there a moment. Eventually, he loosens his grip and slides his hand away. ]
Guess we'd better really work on getting out of here, huh?
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