abraxaslogs | [ OPEN ] where the wind blows now

[ Sylvain wasn't sleeping anyway.

To be honest, he hadn't been sleeping that much in general. He'd gotten used to not sleeping alone, in their months together. The three of them. Jesper had been keeping him company when he could, but he also had another displaced boyfriend to look after right now too and Sylvain... hadn't really voiced how badly the empty loft was beginning to get to him.

So when the message from Claude comes, he's quick to respond. And whenever Claude finally wanders into the courtyard of the Monastary, he'll find Sylvain already there.

Perched on the edge of the dock, bare feet dangling in the water as he stared down into the dark depths. Lost in thoughts that didn't look all that happy right now. ]

[ The paths are familiar so that he walks them almost without thinking about it as he crosses to where the Horizon's blurred the edges of the city into the stone surroundings of the monastery. Ones that if they'd somehow been in Garreg Mach in person instead of here they would've been ones with equally worried footsteps he'd taken on many a late night during the war on those walks meant to clear his mind just as much as they'd focused it.

It's with nearly the same focus now that Claude follows the stairs by the dormitories he remembers just as well to where he'd once joked he could find Teach more often than not with a look of deep concentration. Or, well - what they'd come to recognize as concentration in those different looks Teach often had on, which was close enough. It's not Byleth who he sees out there on the dock now but the figure of someone else he could recognize anywhere and knows even better. ]

Add anything interesting to the pond lately?

[ An easy question to start with to announce his presence even before the steps he takes onto the dock will do so regardless. Something to start with, too, since what he has to ask certainly won't stop there as he takes a seat next to Sylvain and studies the other man's face very carefully while reaching for one of his hands to take in his. ]

[ He startles out of his thoughts - something unusual, since he's pretty typically attentive to whatever's around him. Old habits from years at war never quite fade away entirely. But it's clear he hadn't been paying attention until Claude's voice broke the silence.

He twines their fingers together, tugging his lover closer as he exhales a deep breath, leaning in against him. ]

Yeah, there's a sea monster in there with a taste for venison. Fair warning.

Well, it's a good thing I became a wyvern rather than a deer.

[ For the future that was and wasn't since he distinctly remembers scales and horns featuring more than antlers, though he offers Sylvain a smile with that extremely light teasing in return. Without waiting to see what the reaction will actually be (since there's probably an equal chance of an eye roll in there too) Claude moves again.

Instead of merely sitting side by side even as his partner holds onto his hand, he turns to partially face Sylvain so that with his other arm he can pull the other man even closer still and further into him. Instead of just leaning against him it's more of an embrace as he tucks his chin over the other's shoulder to rest it there while trailing a hand up and down Sylvain's back. It's not to hide concern since that's openly there and likely felt just like the shadows he thought he saw in the other man's face, but for just as much comfort for both of them. ]

If I ask you how you're doing, are you gonna tell me?

There's still time to change your mind, I bet.

[ There's no resistance in him as he lets himself be pulled closer. Despite their height difference, he finds a way to curl in close, burying his face against against Claude's throat. He doesn't know if it's just his imagination or the Horizon's magic, but Claude's scent is as clear as ever, and comforting in a way he's missed these past few days. His own arms wind about the man's lower back, almost clinging to him. ]

If I tell you I'm fine, does that count?

[ You didn't say it had to be a believable answer. ]

You know it doesn't.

[ And there's no changing his mind on that, either. Sylvain's answer is indicator enough of what the actual answer to his question will be, though knowing that and knowing each other so well isn't reason enough to not press more.

It can wait a few moments, though. As familiar arms wind around him Claude all but sags into an equally familiar embrace as he closes his eyes as if to etch it to memory with every other time to hold onto now that they're apart. Something he hadn't ever planned for since even the separation brought about by the Pit feels like a distant enough memory, and maybe he was a fool for letting his guard down about ending up in different places ever happening again.

He holds back a sigh as he opens his eyes and brings a hand up to run through Sylvain's hair when it's not lost on him that they're both as wrapped up in each other as they can be. ]

I'm doing a little better after seeing you here since I don't want to imagine what this would be like without the Horizon.

[ His hand strokes soothingly against Claude's spine, holding him close and trying to offer as much comfort as Claude himself offers. Embodies. He'd missed this, but feeling it now makes that ache even more profound. ]

Yeah, me either. I probably would have ended up arrested, because I wouldn't have given up on trying to get back through that portal to find you.

[ That's not an idle threat, either. in fact, he's contemplated it a lot over the past few days. ]

No getting arrested for anyone unless that suddenly takes on a different meaning than what we know it as.

[ Like a sudden shift to something positive, somehow, though a small sigh leaves him afterward when even he's willing to admit that's not a particularly funny joke. Or one much at all since it's impossible to not agree with what Sylvain's said when the thought of launching himself right back through the portal like this time it'd take him to where he was supposed to be had crossed his own mind when he'd stepped out into Thorne. It wasn't ideal - and it certainly was far from being all bad to be there when there's plenty of familiar faces, but there's not this.

A thought Claude ruminates on yet again for what feels like the hundredth time in a matter of minutes while he keeps his hand moving through Sylvain's hair. ]

I think, [ he finally begins after a pause, ] I'd taken... I don't want to say for granted even though that's probably close enough, but something between that and assumed we'd never get separated. Not again, anyway, since even the trickier situations as of late still ended up with us going home.

What different meaning could that possibly have?

[ He shakes off his brooding long enough to shoot Claude a bewildered look. Was that meant to be some kind of strange roleplay innuendo?

But his lover's quiet confession has him wrapping his arms around him once more, tugging him close. he presses a kiss to his temple, giving a soft, understanding hum. ]

I think we all probably have. I'd honestly been more concerned about the Singularity sending me back home at some point. I didn't think it would pull something like this. So it could be worse, I guess. But this isn't exactly ideal either.

[ That kiss has his eyes closing as Claude works to commit it to memory when that's what he'll have once they leave the Horizon - this one along with the rest with no knowledge of how long it might be until they won't have to rely on meeting like this alone.

It's another comfort, a small one, to hear at least he hasn't been the only one also quietly thinking the same thoughts Sylvain says aloud now in confirmation to his own. ]

You'd think that with everything that's happened we would've learned to predict the unpredictable by now with considerable accuracy.

[ It doesn't quite hit the testing mark of lightness Claude had been going for, half-heartedly as he was trying for it in the first place. Rather than attempting to salvage it like he'd be tempted to do (or would already be doing) any other time, Claude pulls back enough to look at Sylvain. ]

But we're still here through it all, aren't we? [ Said while placing a hand on the other man's face to cradle it while running a thumb along his cheek. ] And we'll do whatever we can get home to the one we've made here.

[ Sylvain gives him what he hopes is a reassuring smile - even if it ends up halfhearted at best. ]

I'll keep it ready for you both, either way.

[ Still, he leans into that touch, pulling Claude close once again. ]

Hopefully they'll get... whatever this is, sorted out swiftly.

I hope so. I can't imagine Hilda's enjoying Solvunn all that much even with friends there.

[ That certainly counts for something - none of them are alone where they are, and not even Claude's interested in imagining what it'd be like otherwise as he rests his cheek on Sylvain's shoulder with an inaudible sigh. Even if that's a comfort, it doesn't take away the ache of not having the two of them physically with him or being where they are.

Such thoughts loop right back into what he'd just offered Sylvain reassurance on mere moments ago, so he puts those away and contemplates something else related instead. ]

I also can't imagine Thorne and the Free Cities won't both see this as some sort of opportunity after everything that's happened with the new monarchy. Possibly even Solvunn too unless they're going to pretend to still be neutral in their own way, but it's too convenient we've been mostly sent elsewhere by someone or something's doing.

[ OPEN ] where the wind blows now

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject