[log] how deep are we gonna go with this?

[bywolves]

Characters: Alfie and Royce
Location: Downtown
Date: Day 292 to Day 295
Summary: Exposure effects, a brief reprieve, and then event shenanigans.
Warnings: Nothing yet, will update if anything comes up.

Starters below!

Comments

[devoutish]

Don't be ridiculous. I should always.

[bywolves]

You should also try resting.

[devoutish]

Yeah, my mother would really love you.

[bywolves]

[ Royce snorts. ] Must be channeling her.

[devoutish]

Mm, you think the praying is what did it?

[bywolves]

Yeah. [ No, but he sounds very confident that this is the case. ] See? Makes me into a mother hen. Useful.

[devoutish]

[It makes Alfie chuckle - but then his smile fades.]

It felt different, mate. That connection I felt before--

[He slices a hand through the air in a severing motion.]

[bywolves]

Mm. [ Royce nuzzles into him. His voice fades in and out of monotone. ] I know. It feels like any memory of Elan is... distant. The people there aren't as present in my mind. I feel like we've been here so long.

But we haven't. It's only been a few months.

[devoutish]

Six months is still a very long time to be in a place like this.

[But he knows what Royce means. He feels the same.]

[bywolves]

Spent a year in Manzant. [ Royce says, soft. ] It felt like fifty.

[ Still. He pets at Alfie's hair a bit. ] That connection will come back. You can't give up on it.

[devoutish]

Royce.

[He shifts around so that they're face to face, forehead to forehead.]

Will you tell me whether or not you really believe that?

[bywolves]

[ Fight the apathy, Royce tells himself, reaching to hold onto Alfie's shirt for a second. Be honest. Use emotions. ]

Yeah. [ He presses their foreheads together firmly. His voice is steady and confident, as genuine as he can get it to be. ] I believe it.

[devoutish]

[Alfie looks him in the eye for several long seconds. Then, holding Royce's cheeks in both hands, pulls back to kiss his forehead twice.]

I know you don't. But thank you. Thank you.

[bywolves]

Mm.

[ Royce sighs, a little, frowning, but he leans into each forehead kiss. He doesn't argue, because there isn't any point - whether Royce believes it or not, Alfie doesn't think he does. ]

We're still going to do them every night. [ Royce tells him, closing his eyes. ]

[devoutish]

We will.

[He agrees.]

But I wish I could do more to help you in return.

[bywolves]

You do. You do more than me. [ Royce says, firmly. ] This helps me.

[ A beat, and he pulls Alfie closer. ] The prayers gives me a connection to you.

[devoutish]

It means a lot to share them.

[bywolves]

Good. I don't know how much weight they carry, but. [ Royce sighs. Muttered: ] Anything that keeps me closer to you, I'd like to have.

[devoutish]

You're saying them with me. That carries weight.

[bywolves]

Yeah. Good. [ That's what he wants. ] Then they're not just for your benefit, then.

[devoutish]

That makes me feel better. Yeah, that helps.

[If the ritual can't bind him to his people at home anymore, at least it can bind him to Royce.]

[bywolves]

[ Royce doesn't want Alfie to lose the connection to home. He's not so selfish that he could ever want Alfie to not have his family, and it still pains him to think that might be happening, but there's nothing he can do about it. All he can do is be a bandaid.

Royce goes quiet, holding Alfie. ]

[devoutish]

I love you, mate. Royce.

[He settles their foreheads together again, finding Royce's hand and giving it a quick squeeze.]

Good night.

[bywolves]

Love you, too. [ Royce says, without much hesitation. It'd been so easy in the years that had passed. It's easier now, too.

He murmurs night, and makes sure they're both warm before trying to drift off. ]