Faihan stopped in the doorway, surveying the bedroom. He wasn’t sure what Alejo wanted to ask him—what would be more important to talk to him about than sorting things out with Joaco and his father—but he was also somehow relieved. Answering one question always seemed to lead to a dozen more. He wasn’t sure what to expect now. He didn’t think it would necessarily be bad, because Alejo had assured him that he was here to stay, and because they had finally found their light and song…so it seemed like maybe things were going to be on an upswing.

Which meant, he guessed, that maybe Alejo wanted to talk about them. He hoped that he would have all the answers, but he wasn’t going to hold his breath, because Faihan had found in this life that he very rarely did.

Alejo might have to just settle for some.

“Somehow, I thought it would be more like…I don’t know, Elysium?” He smiled, a bit of nerves jangling in the expression, and moved past the threshold. It felt a little like an experience he might have had, maybe should have had, when he was a teenager. But he hadn’t been willing to risk that back then, and by the time he had…well, having someone come over through an app was not the same. He felt oddly young and very inexperienced, standing in Alejo’s room. “What are you thinking about?”

Alejo had a myriad of thoughts circling in his head, a multitude of worries laced with relief, and he hardly had enough time to sort them all out. So he chose to start with the easier one, the one that seemed to have been solved, for the most part. He just needed to speak to Faihan, which was easier said than done after everything he blurted out to him.

The ball of light seemed to be gently vibrating in his hands, so he moved deeper into his bedroom to place it down on his mattress. "Sorry it's just boring and normal," Alejo offered a sheepish smile as he turned to look at the other man. "You said you wanted to earn our happy ending," Alejo reminded Faihan, giving him a goofy grin. "What did you mean with that?"

Faihan watched Alejo place the ball of light onto the bed, and it reminded him of something small and warm, like a puppy or a kitten. For a moment, he wanted to touch it, to see if it would feel soft, but he thought that after what had happened in the garden, it might not yet be wholly stable, and he didn’t want to press his luck. Still, he walked over to the bed to look at the little orb that was a much bigger thing than what Juliet and Kyo had. How was Alejo going to carry that around? Maybe it was meant to evolve into something else—something more portable?

He looked up at the question and then looked down again, his face red. Now that the moment was over, he felt a little embarrassed about baring his soul in front of so many people. But he thought he and Alejo were alike in that way. They, unlike Eli and Joaco, tended to struggle with masks and deflections. They were perhaps most themselves when they were just open and honest. After a moment, he reached out to brush his knuckles against Alejo’s wrist.

“I don’t…think that Badr and Titus saw it,” he said after a moment. “I can’t say with any certainty what happened to either of them, but I’m guessing that since we’re here—since all of us are here, whatever happened there…” He glanced up at Alejo. “I don’t know what a happy ending would look like. Maybe it means stopping these people who seemed to be against us back then, protecting this planet, protecting each other… And maybe it means…seeing if…” He looked away again, his face heating. “I don’t know. I’ve never been with anyone like that before. I don’t know if it will be good or bad—not just for me, but for you. But, things would turn out good…in a happy ending. You know, you didn’t really give me the chance to tell you before…that I wasn’t against…trying.”

Alejo reached over to take Faihan's hands in his, giving him a strong tug until there was no space between them. He gave them a firm squeeze, looking at him just as intently as he had when his name was Titus, except that now he truly understood his earnestness around the other man, and how every little thing he did seemed to be more and more adorable. "You can't say you want to try right after rejecting me," Alejo gave Faihan a pointed look, narrowing his eyes at him. "Nor can you say you want to try with me when you were rejecting yourself like that but--"

With a wide and goofy grin, Alejo leaned in close to look at Faihan in his eyes, trying to keep him from looking away. "It sounds like you accept what we had before… that Titus and Badr are part of us." it was more complicated than that, but he didn't want complications, he wanted Badr--Faihan to accept the feelings they had in their memories. "I've never been with any man, well, in fact, I only had one girlfriend--no, two and a half? Anyway, I'm inexperienced and I don't know what I am doing, but I know I want you. The you before and the you now. They're both beautiful and they are both you. "

Faihan smiled, ducking his head. “You…are going to quickly learn…” But he cut himself off with a self-deprecating chuckle. “I…didn’t tell you that Joaco rejected me…months ago now. I didn’t tell you, because I didn’t want the decision to be about whether he was interested in me or not. It was meant to be about you and me, so I didn’t feel like…it mattered where he and I stood. I have…trouble making things clear, I guess. When I told you, you know…not to make me love you if it wasn’t going to be returned, and…when I asked if this was going to be you and me, writing our own story… I was trying to tell you I was interested in…giving us a chance. I would have spared you a lot of pain if I had just been clearer about everything. I’m sorry.”

He licked his lower lip, lifting his eyes to meet Alejo’s again. “I don’t hate Badr. I never hated him. I just— I’m scared of him sometimes. But I’m not afraid of you.” He squeezed Alejo’s hands back. “I could never be.” For a moment, he gripped them tightly, closing his eyes. “Did I mess this up? I’m better at messing things up than fixing them. If I messed it up, tell me. Even if I’m not good at fixing things… It’s not that I’m trying to…deny Badr. It’s that I want you to understand that I…care about you without his influence. Ever since we started searching for the Score… I felt safe around you. I…I laughed more than I had in years. Being near you made me feel like I did before…everything happened with my parents. It made me feel like there was a kinder, warmer person in me—someone who knew how to smile, who could open himself to others…I guess someone more like Badr used to be. I got scared, though, thinking that I was going to stop being myself if I didn’t fight it, so I fought it.”

He frowned, his eyes squeezed closed. “If Eli and Joaco hadn’t trusted me back there… If they had hurt you…” He shook his head sharply and then tried to pull his hands free to throw his arms around Alejo, quiet for a moment.

Alejo had things to say, but for now, he stayed quiet, letting go to open his arms and welcome Faihan in a tight embrace. "It's fine. I'm sure they would've done something to help me, even if I got a bit battered up in the process--which does make me wonder was Joaquín handling the situation well?" He didn't have much of a chance to talk with him or his father, but for now, well, Alejo pushed his nose against Faihan's hair as he squeezed tight.

"And I've been trying to tell you that's yourself but you didn't listen." He was squeezing too tight, so he reluctantly loosened his hold. "But I think I get what you mean now… you're scared that without our memories things would be different." Truth to be told, Alejo couldn't imagine a life without remembering Titus, so perhaps it was a little bit more complicated for him. "I… ever since I was really little, I've had dreams of a beautiful voice. A comforting and gentle one always watching over me."

Faihan didn’t reply, though he didn’t think it was fine. If Alejo had been hurt…and if it had happened in part because hadn’t been clear enough about how he felt about it—had kept back all these crucial pieces of information (his own feelings being the most important part)—it wouldn’t be okay. Not with him, at least. But…it didn’t happen. This time, the Universe had thrown him a bone, and the worst hadn’t come to pass. He didn’t believe in fate, really, but he thought he shouldn’t dwell on what-ifs when, for the first time in a long time, things had worked out despite Faihan being Faihan.

He sighed and decided to let it go. It would, after all, be better to learn from it than to admonish himself for it over and over again (even if he did feel like he should be at least be held somewhat accountable for the state Alejo had found himself in—scolded for it, or punished…he wasn’t sure).

“I think he was embarrassed…about some of the things said,” Faihan replied, looking up. “But he did seem like he was handling things pretty well? Or do you mean about before—during the party? He was angry when he first found out.” His mouth quirked. “He felt like your father had abandoned him and seemed angry that he wanted to suddenly be a family now? It was the only time I’ve known him to be upset.” Though he had seemed very calm during the announcement. Faihan wasn’t sure what had happened between then and now, but he supposed, “You know the saying, ‘like water off a duck’s back’?” He shrugged. He didn’t really want to talk about Joaco or the Bravos or anyone who did not occupy this bedroom, because at last it seemed like Alejo understood why it was so important to him that he, too, be part of this—that his own story be folded into the rest. It was very good, he thought, to be understood. Not many people understood him, though Faihan had recently come to realize that there were few people around him who could be faulted for it…

“You will have to remind me when I’m being obtuse,” he muttered. “But I will not tell you about what happened the first time I dreamed of you,” he continued with an embarrassed chuckle. “And you are forbidden to ask. What about now? I had come to think… It just seemed like I wasn’t meant to be…someone to anyone. So I don’t know…what happens next.”

Alejo made a very confused face when Faihan started to talk about things he didn't ask about, but Alejo honestly didn't mind, so he nodded his head. It was good to know, at least. Clearly Joaquín didn't want this as much as he did, so it was unfair to blame him for it. Still sucked that his dad hid this from the both of them though.

"WHY?!" His very loud disappointment was also very visible on his face. "Now I wanna know more. Tell me." Alejo never dealt well with being told no, and somehow, this was even worse. "What do you mean with what about now?"

“Alejo, it’s…it’s even more embarrassing now that I know you,” Faihan groaned, trying to pull free of Alejo’s grip. “It was the only time I…that it…happened.” He cleared his throat. “I told you, this is a forbidden subject. It’s too embarrassing.” He paused in his attempts to run to the other side of the room and scrunched his mouth. “I mean, what are… What do you…? Are we just going to…play it by ear now? Is that what you want to do? Or…? Do you want something more… I don’t know. Structured, maybe. Or do you not want anything at all. I should have asked that first… Do you even…want to…with me?”

Why was it embarrassing? "Now you know me so you know I must know, Faihaaaan." His voice was whiny and childish, chasing after the other man, and trapping him in his arms again to drag him back to where they started. At the question, Alejo stared, blinking a few times. "I thought we were already dating? I mean, you made a big confession and everything."

Faihan blinked. “Oh. Okay. Um, okay yeah. We are dating, then.” His face was way too hot. Every moment seemed intent on making it burn even hotter. He was pretty sure even his ears and throat must have gone red by this point. It had taken so little effort to drag him back to where they started, and he realized he shouldn’t have said anything about it if he didn’t intend to explain why it was kind of an embarrassing thing to have done. He did know Alejo by now, and he had put his foot in his mouth.

Alejo leaned in, simply stealing a quick peck from Faihan's lips because he was being really cute and it was tough to handle responsibly.

”It’s not… I didn’t even know your name yet… I just…when I woke up…” He groaned, lightly pushing Alejo’s chest. “I never did it again after that—after I had met you. Though…I actually never thought about someone I ‘knew’ before that, so… that was kind of strange too. But I didn’t really know you. Just the dreams I was having about you. Why are you making me talk about this, Alejandro!”

There was a lot of blinking and staring, followed by narrowing his eyes and staring some more. "What?" Then he made a face when the name downed upon him. "Please don't call me that…"

Faihan groaned, pressing his brow to Alejo’s chest and gripping the front of his clothes lightly. “Just…remember that I was gay from day one, okay?” he mumbled. “So…Badr’s reaction to you was…it was very strong, and when I woke up, there was an urge. Honestly…I thought I was going to lose my mind the first few days. But I guess…that is I ended up at the beach that day. You probably have no idea the effect Titus had on Badr, just doing dumb things like tickling him.”

One of his hands moved up to play with Faihan's hair, listening quietly to his explanation, but he was staring and squinting, still, trying to put it all together. "Wait, was Badr really horny all the time? And that made you all aroused too? So you… oh!" His grin was goofy and his cheeks bright red, warming up in an instant.

Faihan pushed his face even harder against Alejo, so that his words now came out muffled, “Yes. He really was all the time. You have no idea how stressful that has been.” He sighed, releasing Alejo. “Now at least you have to promise never to bring it up again, okay? It’s embarrassing!”

"But you never are now," Alejo pointed out, keeping playing with Faihan's hair with one hand while the other rubbed one of his eyebrows. "How did his little heart take it… and why does it not work on you? Am I not sexy enough? Do I have to change my cologne or workout routine?"

Faihan pulled back further, staring at Alejo incredulously. “It took a lot of willpower,” he said. “You don’t need to change anything.” He put his hands on Aeljo’s biceps. “I just…didn’t want to get hurt anymore, so when you seemed like you were 200% straight, I just…I don’t know. I wouldn’t let myself even think about it.” He shrugged. “I’m a little nervous that you aren’t… I mean… You might not like it. With me. Just because you have a romantic attraction…”

Alejo was back to squinting, staring at the furthest away wall. "Then why are you not aroused?" Maybe he needed to do more, like wrestle Faihan. That seemed to work with Badr at least. "Yeah, I'm sure I'm not gay. On one hand, I want to kiss and mess you up, but on the other hand I have no idea what I want to do?" He shrugged his shoulders casually, loosely relaxing his hold, but refusing to let go completely.

Faihan laughed, sliding his arms around Alejo’s neck. “Well, I was kind of scared that you were going to fly away inside a magical lion, or that Eli might try to stab you… Being terrified that you were going to disappear or be killed…not the sexiest feeling in the world.” He smirked just a little, but his expression softened. “We don’t have to do anything right now, if you aren’t ready. When you are—if you are—well… Starting with kissing has never been a bad move.”

"Fair, that does put a bit of a hamper on arousal…" Alejo sighed and shrugged his shoulders, both of his arms now securely fit around Faihan's waist, giving him a firm squeeze. "Then we should start with a few of those. I'm sure Badr must be impatient after waiting two lifetimes for them," he said with a little grin, inching closer to the other man, tipping his head down.

He leaned up, and it came as easily as it had in the gym the first time. He sighed a little as his lips brushed against Alejo’s, and he softened his mouth, inviting him to kiss deeper if he wanted. And he did, pressing a hand in the middle of Faihan's back as Alejo finally and properly tasted him. One hand moved to Alejo’s hair, fingernails drawing softly up his scalp. He felt like he wanted to say something, but he couldn’t think of anything that wasn’t a little bit embarrassing, and he felt self-conscious enough with Eli and Joaco being witness to all those heart-spoken confessions. Alejo wouldn’t be embarrassed by them, but Faihan still felt a little too self-aware to try.

“And Titus never felt that way at all…?” he asked instead.

Alejo simply laughed. "Titus had no idea what he wanted from Badr only that--"

Crack. Alejo glanced around the room when he heard that noise.

Faihan grinned—he had expected as much. He was about to say that he was glad that Alejo at least knew he wanted to kiss when the sound issued from somewhere in the room. He drew back, frowning, and followed Alejo’s gaze.

Probably because that light magic had caused them all mortal peril not too long ago, his instinct was to look towards the bed (somewhat worried another lion might appear). “Is it the light…?”

"I don't think s--" Crack. A line appeared down the light orb, and Alejo arched his eyebrow at it. "Huh." He should be more concerned about it, but he couldn't muster the energy necessary to panic.

Faihan wasn’t sure if he should…back away from it or not. It had seemed to respond correctly to Alejo when they left the garden, but it was hard to say what a magical artifact would or could do. He licked his lips, took a deep breath, and pulled away, cautiously tugging Alejo towards the bed to inspect. Maybe it would be something good and cute, like a lion cub that wasn’t born of Alejo’s pain. That would be a really nice surprise. He would love that…

Alejo followed after the other man, wary, but at the same time, not too bothered by the bizarre sounds. More cracking, and the lines on top almost looked like a cobweb by now. He took Faihan's hand before reaching out with the other to poke at it.

Meow.

He squeezed Alejo’s hand, trying not to cringe at the cracking light that had a 50/50 chance of being something that might try to eat them, or might be delightful, like a shiba inu or a pink bird. He squinted one eye open at the meow, though.

“Meow?” he replied.

After another poke, the light crumbled away like an egg, and inside there was a lone pure white kitty who was now staring at them with bright green eyes.

Instinctively, Alejo reached out to touch it with the tip of his finger, and the kitty made some happy sounds.

Faihan restrained himself, though his face had gone from apprehensive to somewhat curated, but only barely restrained delight. A kitten was the best possible outcome of any situation, in his opinion, and so he breathed a sigh he hadn’t known he’d been holding and then sat down on the bed, slowly, beside the cat, rubbing his brow.

“Ha, you got a cat,” he said after a moment, looking up at Alejo and grinning. “And of course, Eli has a dog…” Cats and dogs. That part made sense at least. Though Eli had been, as Faihan would have expected, very supportive and helpful tonight. Faihan would have to thank him properly later, but for the moment, there was a newborn—did it count as newborn, or even as a kitten since it came out of an orb of light?—kitty on the bed.

“We definitely can’t, you know…now, though,” he said, looking up very seriously. “It will scar your kitten.”

"I know… what?" Alejo turned to look at Faihan, and in that moment, the remains of the shell faded away into light particles that flowed right back into the kitten, leaving nothing behind but the animal and a small stone. "My cat is cuter--"

Faihan to his credit did not roll his eyes at the question, though he did start to open his mouth to protest that Sukkar had her own merits even if she was not a magical pet, but…

'Mom! Dad!' A voice echoed in their heads, and it felt like what telepathy would feel like if it were real.

"Uh…"

His mouth was still slightly ajar as he looked over the kitten at Alejo. And, well, he sort of knew what this did feel like, because Badr knew what it felt like, ‘talking’ to the Score from Serenitas. And that unspoken voice was calling out either to or for its parents. (And only he and Alejo were in the room…)

“Well…this is…new,” he said slowly, squinting as he studied the kitten. He looked at Alejo, waiting for him to address the apparently telepathic cat. He wondered if they had somehow…created this creature, and if so, how did that happen?

More likely, though, it probably was just confused.

Since he didn’t think Alejo was going to hear any internal dialogues, he spoke out loud when he asked, “Where did you come from?”

'I was born from dad's soul!' The kitten padded closer to the edge of the bed, but not without losing its new footing a few times. The kitten stretched out, staring at Faihan expectantly. 'Mommy's voice is what woke me up!'

Alejo rubbed his eyebrow as he stared at the cat while it continued to wait for Faihan's attention.

There was a joke there, Faihan thought—something about getting Alejo pregnant—but the kitten was calling him mom, and that was less funny, mostly because he and Alejo had apparently created life somehow, and that was… Was that even something that happened in Elysium? His brows rose further, his eyes blinking. He did at least start to pet the kitten and rub its ears, because that came naturally enough. Who could see a kitten, even if it was telepathically calling you its mom, and not want to pet it. It was really, really cute…

He looked up at Alejo, not laughing, though there was incredulous laughter in the expression. Now they really, really couldn’t ‘you know.’ Also, was this going to happen again? If they, well, had an intense emotional connection again, were they going to create more sentient light creatures? Badr had always thought Crystalism was strange; now Faihan thought it was, too. He wasn’t sure what to even say now. It didn’t feel quite right to make fun, but also he wasn’t sure he could say anything without trying to temper it with his own bad jokes. He cleared his throat.

“Do you have a name, or…are you waiting for your…er, papa to give you one?” he finally asked.

"Milk," Alejo said, but the kitten made a displeased noise at the suggestion, making Alejo chuckle in amusement. The kitten stretched before digging down on its hind legs, staring at them both with its green eyes. Then, abruptly, there was telepathic laughter.

'Just kidding, I wanted to see your reaction.' The cat tried not to sound disappointed, but it was now trying to sit as regally as possible. 'I am the Guardian of the Light Crystal, and it is my duty to protect it from threats.' Alejo was now petting the cat in the middle of its regal speech. 'My predecessor was hosted within the Chosen of Light's soul, but it was incomplete, and so, I was born with your help!'

Faihan, too, abruptly burst into laughter—unable to hide his relief. He ran a hand over his face and then, as though this was the last straw of the past 48 hours, flopped backwards onto the bed, letting his hands fall back against the bed over his head, because he had been a little concerned about taking ‘cat dad’ to the next level.

He let out a sigh and turned his head towards the now-regal looking prankster. And then he sat up excited. “The Light Crystal,” he looked to where the stone had appeared next to the kitten. “Alejo, try it.”

Though he had a feeling that seeing Alejo in full Titus regalia was going to make him feel sorry that ‘you know’ would not be happening anytime soon.

Still, he wanted to see.

'It's just a fragment of it, but it should be enough to make it work!' The kitten took a few happy steps until it curled up on Faihan's lap. "Like Eli, right? No, even better." Grinning confidently, he reached for the dull and white crystal, clutching it tight in his fist.

Alejo concentrated and the stone began to radiate brilliant light, almost like the real deal. The light enveloped his entire body, momentarily obscuring him from sight. His silhouette changed, and when he was visible again, Alejo was wearing a brilliant platinum armor, with a just as lustrous sword and shield, one in each hand. He gave the sword a testing swing in the air, and then did a flourish with his hand as he adjusted the weight of the shield on his left hand. The cape he was wearing almost seemed just as magical because it never got in the way of his movements. "I remember," he said, his teeth flashing bright. "All of my training, I remember it."

It now seemed a little more presumptuous of him to pet the magical cat, but even if it was a super intelligent talking cat, it was still a sweet, white kitten, and so as it settled on his stomach, he idly stroked its head and chin, his eyes never leaving Alejo (except to blink against the brightness). The cat accepted the attention, preening against it.

Faihan had only recently taken an interest in the magical and the mythological. He’d started the Lord of the Rings series, but hadn’t finished as of yet. So he was not inclined to think anything particular about chivalry and flashing armor. Except right now, because right now, he felt effervescent and flickering inside. The more Faihan part of him—a little cynical, a little snarky—had to wonder that Alejo would give him the time of day, especially like this, but he shushed it and instead gave himself over to the jittery feeling in the tips of his fingers and throat and the soft, admiring sigh that sifted through his lips. Alejo had, after all, been the one to declare that they were already together, and after so many times of being told, ‘you’re not it,’ he wasn’t going to fight that.

It made him think of something, and he squinted. It wasn’t Badr’s training exactly, though it was a song from then… He scratched the kitten’s chin and tried to work out the bits and pieces of lyrics… “‘The Sun itself wakes by his luminous face…the moon slips away, overtaken by his grace…’,” he mumbled, and then winced. “Oh no… I think Badr wrote that.” It was, he thought, pretty awful. But he knew how many hours his past life had spent lounging on the rugs and pillows of his rooms, not reading his homework, but composing odes in honor of the Chosen of Light.

"A poem? That's cute." Alejo hung the shield on his back before sheathing his sword in its finely crafted scabbard. "Really cute," he chuckled. "So I'm the sun?"

Faihan's free hand rubbed the bridge of his nose. Well, he got it… the starstruck feeling that Alejo caused like this. But he did wish that maybe Badr’s poetic sensibilities were a little more— He shook his head and sat up the rest of the way. He bit back the remark, Now that I’ve seen you in that armor, I want to see you out of it… ALL of it…, because the cat was sitting right there and would understand. And maybe it was not their child, but he didn’t like an audience regardless.

“I’m still…afraid about a lot of things, but…I feel, too, like…” He paused, trying to put the sentiment into words, and because he was Faihan, trying to put it into the perfect words. He swallowed. “All my life, I have never felt very complete. When I was with Jomana, things were always better. But being moved around and told I had to be this or that… Always performing, always masking, to fit into places I didn’t feel at home… But then, standing there with you and with Her, for the first time in this lifetime…” He laughed, feeling like he was now veering into the ‘said too much’ zone.

He shook his head. “Never mind. I’m just glad, and I don’t think… If I hadn’t known you—if you hadn’t run into me that day—well, I probably wouldn’t ever come to a place where… I guess… I never really understood what ‘hope’ felt like before. I was scared of Badr, but also jealous…because he knew this thing I could never connect with.”

Alejo smiled softly, his body shining again as he cast away his armor, putting the stone away in his pocket before approaching the side of the bed where Faihan was seated. "You deserve it. Hope, happiness, all of it. I swear to be your shield and light of hope in this life, too, no matter what." He smiled, warm and kind as he held and squeezed the other man's shoulders before he leaned down to kiss him softly.

'Aww mom and daddy are the cutest and so mushy.' The kitty shifted to pad around the bed, rolling on it then lying down. 'I think I'm sleepy, so I'm going to…' They made a little sound, and soon enough they were curled up and dozed off.

"We should… probably head back, too…"

Faihan sighed, wishing that they could maybe kiss just a little longer, but Alejo was right. There were other important things that needed addressing first. He lightly stroked the resting kitten’s spine with one finger, and then he nodded, carefully getting to his feet so as not to disturb their new friend.

“You already are,” he said after a moment and then held out a hand and smiled all the way through his eyes. “Back to reality…but this time, a good one.”