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From the moment Gramps had taken them in as his own, Sorey and Mikleo had always been together. The fact that one was a human and the other was a seraph didn’t matter much as a barrier as they grew up together -- it in fact only seemed to encourage them to be closer. If the infant Sorey cried from want of sleep, or because he was sick or hungry, then Mikleo would follow suit, despite not experiencing the same needs for his body. Even if he didn’t necessarily need to eat, he helped Sorey taste-test the meals he made when he was old enough to hunt for himself, and all throughout their childhood he slept next to Sorey on his bed, both of them indulging in the other’s warmth and closeness.
They sparred together to build each other’s skills and found an interest in ruins and history together, building dreams of exploration, discovery, and adventure. They thought about the other constantly, feared any day that they’d have to be apart, could read each other’s minds as well as their own, which was sometimes a good thing, sometimes only giving them cause to avoid the other’s gaze when they were hiding something (but nothing was ever hidden for long).
The two were always so close with the other that sometimes it looked like the only barrier between them was their own physical bodies. But even that stopped being a problem after Sorey became the Shepherd and Mikleo became a Sublord.
The first time had been a rush. Sorey’s heart had been pounding, bursting with happiness and reassurance that Mikleo was by his side again, that their dreams and feelings were reaffirmed as one -- and then they had armatized, their beings fused in one body, and Sorey felt Mikleo everywhere, his beautiful water artes being commanded by both of them, shooting off into unexplored horizons like the arrows they cast.
It had been exhilarating , to say the least.
“We have to do it again.”
They were at the inn in Ladylake, settled down from the ruckus before when they had escaped the palace. Sorey thought if he was going to this up, it might as well be now.
But Mikleo gave him that look, a look that echoed throughout years of him questioning Sorey’s sudden bright ideas. His arms folded under his chest only enforced the disapproval. “Sorey, this isn’t exactly the right time, is it? We’re kind of on the run right now.”
“I know,” Sorey said, unwavering. “But it’s getting dark now and we’re not leaving for Marlind until the morning. So we have some time to kill, right?”
“And you want to armatize in public when there’s no reason to fight? I’m not sure if that’s how you should be using your powers, Mister Shepherd.”
“Oh come on,” Sorey said, casting Mikleo a knowing look. “You enjoyed it too, right? I felt your excitement inside of me, all warm and pulsing.”
An embarrassed pink dusted over Mikleo’s cheeks. “Y-you don’t have to word it like that, you know!”
Although unsure exactly what Mikleo was protesting the wording of, Sorey took the opportunity to insist, “But you agree. So let’s do it one more time before we have to do it just for battle. I,” he felt his insides twist, but it was a wholly pleasant feeling, “I really liked armatizing with you.”
Mikleo stared at him, lips pressed together in consideration. When he finally looked away, he exhaled through his nose. “Okay,” he said, though he didn’t sound reluctant in the least. If anything, he seemed to be holding back a smile. “It would probably be better for you to get a grasp on this power with practice anyway.”
“Exactly! Just think of it as practice.” Although with how easily they managed to fuse and un-fuse, especially after his difficulty with Lailah, Sorey was certain both of them knew that practice wasn’t necessary for them. But if that was what it took for Mikleo to agree, then Sorey wasn’t going to question it.
“Oh? You’re practicing something?” Alisha, who had been talking animatedly with Lailah -- now that she could see and hear seraphim, she was bursting with questions and admiration -- looked over to the boys with curious, wide eyes.
“Don’t worry, we’ll make sure to be discreet.”
“Do you want us to come along with you?”
“Ah, that’s…” Sorey felt bad for leaving Alisha and Lailah out, but he was anxious for him and Mikleo to enjoy this by themselves. A selfish want, he knew that, but was it really so bad?
Clapping her hands together, Lailah’s eyes glimmered. “Oh, this is a private bonding exercise of manhood, isn’t it?” Ignoring everyone’s questioning looks, she nodded with resolution. “Yes, of course! Discovering these new powers, you want to meet each other’s budding skills in a beautiful clash, moving your bodies as one when--!”
“You’re getting too overboard with this!” Mikleo said, clearly scandalized as a new blush stained his cheeks.
Sorey managed a laugh at Lailah’s energy and decided just to leave it at that -- it wasn’t like she was wrong with that last part. He tugged Mikleo along by his sleeve to save him from further embarrassment, rushing them out the door. “We’ll be back before lights out, don’t worry.”
“Ah, okay. Please be safe,” Alisha said, giving them a wave.
Both he and Mikleo exchanged looks once they closed the door to the room behind them. Sorey laughed as Mikleo scowled and dissolved into light, flooding into Sorey’s body.
The walk through the streets of Ladylake was a peaceful once. Most people were retiring back into their homes, with just a few still hanging about in the lantern light, talking and laughing. The lanterns’ glow was soft compared to the brightness of the sun being swallowed by the horizon.
They approached a corner of the city, where Lailah had pulled them aside after Sorey had woken up when he’d forged his oath as a Shepherd. The red and orange of the sky and the lazily swirl of lavender clouds were reflected in the lake, which was now still like a mirror, nothing of the terrible waves and current found just the previous day on its surface. The tranquility reminded Sorey of the peaceful embrace of Elysia’s air, pure and calm. Now that Ladylake had the blessing of a seraph again, the air wasn’t as thick with malevolence, though Sorey could still feel pinpricks of it floating in the air. Nonetheless, the sight was beautiful, and Sorey took a deep breath of the clean breeze as Mikleo materialized next to him.
“Is here what you had in mind?”
“Yeah. There’s no hellions out here. No people either,” Sorey said, sweeping his gaze around, but no one was about. He nodded out to the lake. “Plus, the water is a lot calmer now. It looked kinda murky before, but now it’s only reflecting the sun and moon.” Sure enough, sharing the sky with the sun just overhead was the silver face of the waxing moon.
A serene smile came on Mikleo’s lips as he stared out at the scenery. “Ladylake is slowly returning to its original breathtaking beauty. Whatever other lands have malevolence shrouding it, we have to help them go back to this too.”
Sorey nodded. “We’ll definitely be able to do it.” He reached out, taking Mikleo’s hand and threading their fingers together. He met Mikleo’s surprised look with a grin. “As long as we stay together, there’s nothing we won’t be able to do.”
A lifetime of experience pointed to Mikleo replying with a snappy comeback, cocking a teasing smile if anything, but Sorey was only met with contemplation in Mikleo’s lavender eyes, the same color and feel as the water reflecting the evening clouds. He watched closely as Mikleo looked down at their linked hands, his thumb rubbing slowly over the ridge of Sorey’s knuckles. But gradually, his touch wandered aimlessly over the back of Sorey’s hand, pressing softly as if he wished to sink into his skin.
The sensation made a shiver whisper down his body, and he remembered why he’d brought them out here. Still, he waited until Mikleo was ready to pull out of his thoughts enough to act on the want this simple touch indicated. The gesture was still nice as it was, holding hands and listening to the wind and gentle lap of the lake against the bank. Sorey found himself smiling -- at the feeling, of how beautiful Mikleo looked in the glowing orange light.
“Lailah was so shocked that you knew my real name,” he finally said, the corners of his lips curling upward. “It was kind of obvious that you’d know it though, at least to me. I don’t think there’s...any part of myself I wouldn’t share with you. I feel like even if I have my personal rivers and lakes, they all stream back into the ocean: you.” When Mikleo seemed to realize what he said, he shifted his weight on his feet, looking away as he tried to pull back his hand.
But Sorey held on, laughing under his breath. “Water metaphors? Really coming to terms with your element there, aren’t you?”
That brought them back in the swing of their usual banter, and Mikleo huffed, bumping his shoulder against Sorey’s. “Okay jerk, hurry up as say my name.”
“Heh. Roger.” Sorey let go of Mikleo’s hand, swinging his legs over to sit on the ledge of the stone wall. There was nothing but the watery sky below him when he happily breathed, “ Luzrov Rulay ,” and broke himself from the stone to fall.
In an instant, they were one, power flowing through their united body and making Sorey burst out in laughter at the sensation akin to floating in a bubble. He felt Mikleo’s surprise at the sound coming from their mouth, of Sorey’s usual excitement affecting their body, affecting him . The air continued to rush around them, their silver ponytail whipping above them until finally Mikleo took control and their boots meet the surface of the water with the smallest splash. The surface felt solid-but-not, and Sorey adjusted to the feeling of balancing them on the water.
Mikleo’s sigh echoed in his head. How did you know for sure whether that would work? Honestly, you never think ahead .
“Oh, I trusted you,” Sorey said, Mikleo’s chastisement doing nothing to dampen his spirits. “I remember you showing off this trick some summers ago. Ha, for a water seraph, you sure don’t like getting wet.”
“Don’t make fun of me,” Mikleo said out loud. Sorey let him test out some movements himself, and he also took some time in properly examining themselves since they hadn’t been able to in the heat of battle last time. Mikleo put their hands out in front of them, flexing and wiggling their fingers, looking down their long legs clad in white silk like water.
Does it feel nice being this tall?
Mikleo tensed their body, and Sorey felt the idea of Mikleo wanting to knock against him, but he caught himself, realizing that he’d only hit air. Sorey laughed.
“Where’s our bow?” Mikleo asked, trying to change the subject.
That’s...a good question. Maybe since we didn’t armatize for battle, we just subsciously didn’t summon it?
“Convenient,” Mikleo said. Their hands lightly patted down their chest, feeling the reverberations of their shared voice, their lungs and air and speech as one. And it hit them so simultaneously that it was hard to know who thought of it first -- of how as one they were, that the only thing separate about them anymore was their own souls. Species hadn’t separated them, and now neither could their bodies. They were one body.
They were one body .
We’re so close--This is so amazing--Same, it’s all the same--I can feel you everywhere--So warm--So nice--So good-- Their thoughts tangled together, the excitement rushing through their veins, their heart pounding heavily in their chest. Even in the jumble of overflowing thought and emotion though, Sorey felt Mikleo’s calm breaths, keeping them together so that they didn’t just burst apart from the exhilaration.
Out loud, Mikleo let out a laugh. “Your feelings are so…” Mikleo couldn’t name it, but Sorey got the image of summer sun and rushing wind that would embrace them at the calm heights of Elysia. Sorey understood from that, let his joy flow through them, but Mikleo couldn’t seem to process the buzz of energy he felt, and he lifted one of their hands, as if gesturing out.
The water a few feet ahead began to shiver and stir, and up a steady stream of it spiralled. It rounded once, twice, a third time, dancing languidly under their command. Sorey’s amazement stole their breath for a second, just enough for Mikleo to smile again in response.
“Want to try? I’ll help you.”
With that, Sorey was moving them again, blinking in surprise. Mikleo didn’t let him lose control of the water though, and with gentle gestures from their hand, the water followed along as if pulled by a magnet. Although Sorey had known he’d been using this power in battle, and felt the hot rush flow from their body and manifest in their jets of water and bursts of bubble, he didn’t have the opportunity to be so experimental and somehow intimate with having Mikleo’s artes shared with him like this. Delighted at the discovery of how every movement and intention of their will bended the water, Sorey began to feel more comfortable with their power.
He rose up their other hand, grinning when another stream of water twirled up as well. The two streams waltzed with the other, like a miniature form of Mikleo’s Twin Flow arte. Excited, Sorey drew up more water to feed the flowing ribbons, giving great swoops of his arms like an orchestra director. All of the lake was their symphony, and Sorey propelled them forward, their boots splashing lightly onto the surface of the water. They brought up more streams, letting them burst in watery fireworks, dancing alongside the playful jets they’d summoned, shimmering with the last of the sunlight.
Sorey spun them around, their hair following in a silver arc, and laugh after joyful laugh filled their lungs. Mikleo was there, helping their control, amused and even delighted at Sorey’s open expressions of happiness at the power they wielded together, the spectacle they made from the flow and wash of the water.
They brought the water in a graceful arc overhead, and then Sorey let go, long enough for the stream to lose its form, but at the last second he made the droplets stagnant, hanging in the air like clear marbles, each of them shining like tiny suns and moons. When Sorey let them fall, he didn’t mind at all when they got wet, their already form-fitting clothes clinging to them.
Sorey! Mikleo exclaimed. What are you--?
But Sorey’s laugh interrupted him, and Sorey couldn’t help it, he was having so much fun! “Mikleo,” he breathed, wiping back their drenched bangs, “I always really admired your artes. I thought how you worked with water was so amazing, and how you looked surrounded by it, sparkling and beautiful… I guess I got carried away, but that’s only because I can feel it now -- you and your artes are really incredible!”
Mikleo was speechless. Not a single word -- out loud or a thought -- came from him. But Sorey felt their heart soar, and the heat of Mikleo’s tell-tale blush stung their cheeks.
Idiot , he finally thought, crossing their arms. That’s why you shouldn’t have resisted so much to let me join you.
“Are you really still mad about that?” Sorey ran their palms over their wet biceps. At first it might’ve been a gesture to warm them as the night air began to hit them. But as he felt over the expanse of their skin under their clothes, pressing against the firmness of their muscles, his movements became tender, caressing them, thinking that by doing this he was touching Mikleo this way.
Not really , Mikleo said, his voice quieter. I mean, we came to an agreement, and now we can do this, so …
Sorey continued to cradle them, his arms closing over their chest as if they could embrace each other, their body, holding them, his palms sliding over their shoulders. He lost their gaze out to the ripples surrounding their feet as drops fell from their hair and clothes, overlapping to gently on the water’s image of the moon, the stars that had begun to shine.
“Doing this is nice,” Sorey said simply, feeling their body relax, then become slightly tense again from Mikleo’s nerves. Every physiological response born from the depths of Mikleo’s emotions Sorey felt. It was a strange sensation, to feel Mikleo, to experience his emotions while not being able to externally observe them, to not see Mikleo casting his gaze down, to press his lips together as if stopping himself from saying out loud his thoughts. But now they were co-existing in the same body -- if Sorey opened his mouth, pushed those words to the surface, what would they say?
Being this close , Sorey thought, it's only going to feel this good with you .
Images played in their mind, being skin to skin, laying in the same bed in their childhood, putting their arms together in their own gesture of friendship and understanding the other. Skin to skin. Now just soul to soul. Being this close -- was it inevitable for them?
Sorey …
Sorey closed their eyes, and their breath exhaled from their lips ragged, as if in anticipation, an odd warmth spilling down their body, quivering their thighs--
S-Sorey!
They burst apart, but before either of them could fall into the lake, Mikleo summoned a bubble to cradle them in. It wasn’t a very spacious bubble, leaving them crammed with Mikleo stumbling his head onto Sorey’s lap, and Sorey accidentally grabbing onto Mikleo’s hip for purchase when their bubble bobbed on the surface of the lake.
“Wh-what happened?” he gasped. Somehow the lack of another inside him made his body feel heavier than before. His limbs felt weird and clumsy, like they weren’t his own. But a few breaths and he returned to himself, and he registered Mikleo tangled on top of him, both of them somehow no longer wet.
“ You ,” breathed Mikleo accusingly, “you got all hazy and stuff, and you -- you started thinking.” Even in the nighttime darkness, Sorey could practically see how red Mikleo’s face was getting, along with his scowl. “L-look, if you don’t concentrate enough, you’ll break the armatus! If you want for even a second to split, then…”
Sorey attempted to straighten himself up, a bit dubious as to how durable the bubble was; he didn’t need another reason for Mikleo to yell at him. "Did I think about us splitting apart?"
"You must've. Or the armatus could've just run out too," Mikleo suggested flatly. Both of them knew that for them, Sorey had a better grasp on how to undo the armatus, so if there was a reason this happened, it had to have been something he did.
It was hard to pinpoint where things had started swirling out of control though. Sorey could remember the warmth and tenderness when he'd hugged their body, and he remembered feeling warm, his thoughts and body full of nothing but Mikleo. Then it clicked. How at that moment, as intimate and wonderful as it felt for them to share a body, he could only think about wanting to hug Mikleo like this, wanting to meet his eyes until Sorey would look down at his lips... And then the armatus broke. When the dots connected, the image in his heart that he created was suddenly an obvious one to Sorey. Of course he'd feel this way for Mikleo. All their lives exchanging looks and smiles and banter and research notes, sharing everything, being close...
All it took was for them to share a body and a heart for Sorey to understand.
"Hey... Mikleo."
"What is it?" Mikleo was adjusting himself as well now, and was well at work gently moving their bubble back up to the edge of the city. Sorey decided to wait until Mikleo popped the bubble at the corner, their feet landing firmly onto the stone below them. As soon as they were safely back on land, Mikleo turned to Sorey, hands on his hips when he asked again what Sorey wanted.
By then, Mikleo was already gathered up in Sorey's arms. Their chest were pressed flush together, blissfully skin to skin.
"It's nice feeling you all around me, but," Sorey smiled into Mikleo's hair, "like this is good too."
For the second time that day, Mikleo defied his usual behavior and instead relaxed in Sorey's hold, pressing his cheek against Sorey's shoulder. "Yeah," was all he said, but that alone was enough to convey what he felt.
If Sorey had his way, they would stay like this until he fell asleep with Mikleo snuggled perfectly in all his empty spaces. But he supposed if he wanted that, he'd have a greater chance of success if they actually had a bed to lay down in. He did promise Alisha and Lailah that they'd be back before lights out, and the sun was already completely gone, the sky dark blue and pinned with silver stars.
Sorey broke up their embrace. "Let's go back to the inn. I can take us if you're tired."
Mikleo huffed. "I could say the same to you. The armatization must've exhausted you a little, right? Come on, I don't want to carry you again."
"You're so good to me," Sorey couldn't help but tease.
Mikleo bumped against him, a bit more roughly than usual and making Sorey stumble. "For before," he explained when Sorey was about to protest.
"For what?" he asked with a grin. "When I knocked on your height?"
"I'm a perfectly reasonable height!"
They were walking back to the inn now. Sorey thought to just a minute ago when he'd embraced Mikleo, how Mikleo could press his face into his shoulder, and how Sorey could just press his cheek on the top of Mikleo's head. They had never hugged like that before despite all the hand-holding and sleeping in the same bed they used to do as kids. But Sorey already found himself planning the next time he could hold Mikleo that close to him again, skin to skin, heart to heart.
"You're right," he finally said. "You're the perfect height."