Post MoM AU, general post

[use_everything]

And then one day, it was over.

The memory of how it happened was hazy. Perhaps it was as simple as being ported out, perhaps there was a great experiment, bringing together physicists, chemists, alchemists and scientists to get something WORKING. But like the memories of that time, that other dimension, singular events come and go, like a dream, or an age past.

From the very start, however, there were changes.

Comments

[dendarii]

[ Miles sniffles and eyes the older boy thoughtfully. Just focus ... can he do that? He's willing to try. Gregor is safe after all, having been his first (and most treasured) link so far. Puffing out his cheeks, he closes his eyes in an attempt to concentrate.

He flickers over their link like a star. Bright and small, full of brilliance. ]

Okay. I'm gonna try that. It can't be any worse.

[vorbarra]

[ Indeed, Gregor's mind might have depth to it but at this age there's very little lurking apart from some habitual drifting sadness that he mostly manages to stifle. He has some moments where the tragedies he remembers from childhood overwhelm him, but they feel far away now; he's fully focused on Miles and puzzling this out, and the only thing flitting through him is a soft, warm concern and bafflement. ]

It... feels different, [ he says slowly. ] I think I can feel you listening. It's really weird.

[dendarii]

[ It's a glorious relief after all that poison dripping into his head. Even when not directed at him specifically, the chorus of mutant has been almost too much to bear. He nearly bursts into tears again as he leans over the link more, sheltering himself in the calm of Gregor's mind. ]

Oh. Me too. It's - you're warm. And soft. And quiet.

[vorbarra]

[ He smiles slightly, trying to hide his deepening worry, not fully realizing how futile that is in the circumstances.

He carefully moves to fold an arm around Miles in a half-hug, habitually deliberate about personal contact. ] What's surprising about that? [ he asks in a soft joke. He can sense the tremulous edge of tears. ] Isn't that how I am normally?

[dendarii]

[ Miles leans in gingerly, his usual effusiveness made delicate by the roar in his skull. The quieting roar, thank god. Another sniffle as he wipes at his face. ]

Yeah. But I can feel it. And it makes my head feel better.

[vorbarra]

[ Gregor is at least intense enough to block out the tumult of everyone else. He might be even-keeled, but it's with a weightiness that lends a deep consideration to everything he does, even at fourteen. ]

I'm glad it worked, [ he says honestly, before adding in a mutter, ] even if I don't know what's going on. Was this happening to you before vacation?

[ If this works, what are they going to do when the vacation is over? Gregor can't stick around. ]

[dendarii]

[ Miles shakes his head at that. A mental image drifts over: Miles feeling headachey right after his picnic with Aral, which had exploded into a chorus of voices when he'd gone to a local village afterwards. Telling Bothari. Feeling terrified of Da finding out. ]

No. It just started. I dunno what's making it happen.

[vorbarra]

[ This is hard to sort through at first. Gregor's brow furrows as he pieces together the flashes he sees, indistinct impressions.

He can certainly empathize with being afraid of Aral finding out. He doesn't think he would decry his son even if he was a mutant (that much is hard to miss) but it's also not something Gregor would leap to tell him, either. Rocking the boat that hard is... scary. ]

But you told Armsman Bothari? [ he clarifies, with some relief. At least someone responsible for looking after Miles knows. ] He can get you away if it gets too bad.

[dendarii]

[ That relief flickers on Miles' end as well. For all he'd been terrified to tell Bothari too ... at least someone knows. ]

Uh huh. He figured it out. Or - more like he knew already. Said it was a wormhole accident.

[vorbarra]

A-- what? [ Gregor stares at him. ]

When did you go through a wormhole?

[dendarii]

Never! 'cept when I went back to Beta Colony that one time, but that was ages ago.