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Desjardins was trying to stay conscious. His chest heaved. Everything was blurry and unclear. He would not have been alive if it weren't for Sadie's quick plea to the Gods. Why Sadie was so enamoured with Anubis... Desjardins did not know. Sadie was a godling of Isis, not Anubis. Yet they seemed quite close.
"Michel! Are you- are you alive?" Amos shouted, running up to him. Desjardins couldn't tell if it was his own deluded state, but it seemed like his friend was crying.
"Sorry..." Desjardins croaked.
"Shut up! Thank Gods... You're okay..." Amos choked, staying close to Desjardins, "You're going to stay safe. I'm going to make sure of that."
Desjardins drifted off.
-
Michel woke up. His throat was dry as fuck and everything hurt.
He felt a hand in his. He mumbled something.
"Des..?" Amos yawned. His eyes were red.
Desjardins muttered, "Can I have some water..?"
Amos stammered, "Of- Of course."
He spoke a command, maw.
He poured it into a nearby glass and gave it to Desjardins.
Desjardins drank slowly, then spoke, "How long was I out for?"
Amos winced, "5 days. I- I wasn't sure you were going to wake up."
Desjardins' eyes widened, "Days..? I'm sorry-"
"Shut up." Amos mumbled, "You did a brave thing. Stupid, but brave. I appreciate you saving Sadie and Carter."
"I didn't realise you wanted me alive- I mean... not so strongly wanting me with you." Desjardins stumbled on his words.
Amos squeezed Desjardins' hand and sighed, "It's nothing really to do with being Chief Lector, if you were wondering. I would prefer to not be, but you cannot do it now even though you are alive, you are too weak. It is just... I have drifted apart from my brother. And other from him... you are truly the only friend I have ever had."
Desjardins felt his face flush, "I'm sorry, I have... not been the best friend to you."
Amos smiled warmly, "It's okay. We still have time. We can stay with each other for a long time now."
Desjardins so badly wanted to hug Amos then, but when he tried to move his body, he felt a spike of pain and his vision went dark.
-
"Amos, it's okay. He's a lot more stable now. He'll wake up soon- I- I promise!" Zia tried to assure Amos.
Amos was very clearly having a panic attack.
Desjardins whispered, "Amos-"
Amos cried and clung onto Desjardins tightly, "What happened..?"
"I'm okay. I was trying to hug you, but I can't sit up without pain..." Desjardins replied.
Zia exhaled, "I'm glad you're awake."
Desjardins smiled at Zia.
They had both been pretty much raised by Iskander. When Iskander got sicker and older, the 2 of them spent a lot more time together. Desjardins helped Zia with their magic and sometimes on missions they shared beds. Zia didn't need to be protected, but Desjardins made sure to keep them safe to the best of his ability regardless.
Now he was too weak to do anything for Zia. But they still obviously held admiration in their eyes when looking at Desjardins.
"I'm sorry I can't help you anymore." He said to the younger magician. Amos had sat up by now, but was still attached to Desjardins.
"It's okay, Desjardins. I don't mind, as long as you're okay." Zia mumbled.
Desjardins slowly raised his arm and held Zia's hand.
"You know I care for you, yeah?" He smiled.
Zia stepped closer and smiled back, "I do, yeah. I'm just... a bit shellshocked right now."
"That's okay. You're not the only one." Desjardins reaponded.
"What's wrong, Zia?" Amos asked shakily.
Zia tilted their head, "What do you mean?"
"You came in here looking for me. What do you need?" Amos reiterated.
Zia fiddled with their hands, "Oh- It's... It's not that important. I'd rather you stay with Desjardins... he- he should be your priority right now."
"You know you can call me by my first name, right?" Desjardins chuckled, "And Amos is the new Chief Lector. I'm fine with him leaving."
"I- I'm not worried about you, Desjardins." Zia laughed slightly.
Amos groaned and lifted himself away from Desjardins. He tried to detach his hands from Michel's, but he felt sick.
"I'm going to be fine, Amos. You can go with Zia." Desjardins assured his friend.
Amos nodded. He hugged Desjardins and then walked away.
-
Amos walked in a few hours later. Desjardins perked up.
"I brought you some food. Zia gave me a recipe they said is good for recovery." Amos said, holding a bowl of food. "It's pretty soft, not a large serving. If you don't feel like eating it all you don't have to."
Desjardins grabbed the bowl weakly. It was beef stir fry. It had snowpeas, steamed carrot, brown rice, tomatoes, cashews and eggs.
"I hope that's okay. I put a lot of fibre and stuff in it to make you feel better." Amos sat down next to Desjardins.
Des began eating as Amos told him about what had happened in the past week. Apparently the cure for Walt had worked, though Amos sounded a bit unsure.
"The thing is, I know they're hiding something. Carter kept on... hiding Walt. Especially Walt's neck." Amos noted.
Desjardins choked and started cackling, "You cannot be serious!"
"What do you mean? Are you okay?" Amos panicked.
Desjardins swallowed and laughed, "Why would teenagers be hiding their necks from their superior?"
Amos exhaled, "Oh no."
Desjardins broke out in extreme laughter, "How were you so oblivious?"
Amos blushed, "I- I don't know! I've never been in a romantic relationship, I don't know the... signs of one???"
Desjardins felt a pang in his chest, "I guess that contributes to things."
Amos tried to start a conversation up again, but it was quiet after that.
"I'll... I'll take your bowl for you. See you tomorrow." Amos mumbled.
Desjardins smiled, "Goodnight, Amos."
-
Zia walked up to Amos. He looked tired.
"Are you okay, Chief Lec-"
"Don't call me that. You know I don't like you being formal with me." Amos snarled, he continued walking.
Zia ran back up to him, "Are you okay, Amos?"
Amos breathed shakily, "I'm just a mess today. I apologise."
Zia grabbed Amos gently by the wrist, "It's alright. I don't mind. I'm worried about him too."
They noticed Amos' face was a warm hue.
"Hm... Would you like for me to stay with him tonight? To make sure he's safe?" They smiled. "Or would you like to sleep with him?"
Amos blushed, "Don't phrase it like that! You go be with him! If you want to."
Zia laughed, "Oh, so you do like him."
Amos swatted Zia away, "If you tell him I'm giving you to Carter."
Zia gasped, "What a tragedy! You're going to leave a lesbian with a gay boy! Whatever will happen?"
Amos stammered, "How was I the only one to not know about Carter and Walt?"
"You didn't know?!?" Zia cackled.
"I'm being bullied!" Amos exclaimed. Zia continued to laugh.
Amos ruffled Zia's hair and Zia froze in shock.
"Goodnight, Zia." He grinned, walking to his room.
Zia fixed their hair and smiled.
-
"Good morning, Michel." Amos walked into his friend's temporary room. "I'm sorry for how awkward last night got."
"No, no! It's okay. We're both feeling a bit weird, I get that." Desjardins smiled.
Amos set down a plate of strawberry and banana pancakes.
Desjardins grinned, "Thank you, I've never had food this good. Maybe I should get injured more often."
Amos gave him a death stare and Desjardins chuckled.
"Did Zia stay with you last night?" Amos asked, sitting down with his own breakfast. He had a strawberry and banana smoothie.
"They popped in to talk to me. They didn't stay the whole night but they stayed with me for a while." Desjardins replied.
"Your relationship with Zia intrigues me." Amos said.
"They're like my little sister. Iskander kind of just put us together and we went along with it." Desjardins explained.
Amos put down his smoothie, "Zia prefers fem and masc terms over androgynous terms, right? They don't like talking to me about it."
"Yeah, Zia is intersex and genderfluid. They use they/them mostly but don't like gender neutrality in terms of how you refer to them." Desjardins informed.
"As for why they don't like talking about it... I believe they just don't like conversations revolving around them. They tend to stay pretty formal, in case you hadn't figured that out yet." Desjardins added.
Amos sighed, "I'm working on that. I accidentally lashed out on them a bit last night for calling me Chief Lector instead of Amos. But they seemed to be okay."
"Zia told me about it." Desjardins smiled.
"They did?" Amos exhaled.
"They weren't complaining or anything, just saying how you and I were similar. When I was Chief Lector I would wag my finger at them if they called me that. I'm still trying to get them to call me Michel." Desjardins responded.
"Similar?" Amos asked. His body subconsciously leaned closer to Desjardins.
"We've rubbed off on each other. In a good way." Desjardins finished his pancakes.
Amos took his plate away and walked out of the room.
Zia grinned, "How's it going?"
Amos absentmindedly performed a spell, "Maw!"
Zia, drenched, spat out water, "Thank you. I needed another shower this morning."
Amos sighed, "I didn't. I didn't realise it was you."
"I figured that out." Zia muttered.
"Qa-hil." Amos spoke softly. Zia was suddenly dry.
"Thank you, dad." Zia said. Amos smiled, but as soon as Zia had realised what they said, they immediately ran away.
"Zia! It's okay! Don't worry about calling me that!" Amos panicked, running after them.
"Leave me alone! Leave me alone!" Zia yelled, running into the room Ra was in. They spoke a command and locked the door.
Amos panted. Zia saw him as their dad. His chest felt warm, but he knew Zia didn't feel the same. Zia was scared.
Amos put the dishes away and went to the throne.
He sat down at the base.
Zia called him dad. Zia then ran away.
What does he do now?
-
It was lunchtime. Zia was still locked in the room with Ra.
Amos heated up some canned spaghetti and walked into Desjardins' room.
"I heard some yelling after you left. What happened?" Des asked.
"Eat." Amos ignored him and put down the bowl of spaghetti.
"Have you eaten?" Desjardins replied.
"... Just eat."
Amos walked out.
-
It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts it hurts it hurts it
-
Amos threw up.
-
"Amos, are you okay?" Desjardins asked.
Amos gave him dinner. When he tried to walk out, Desjardins grabbed his wrist tightly.
"You're going to sit down and tell me what happened." He glared at Amos.
Amos exhaled shakily and sat down.
"Zia called me dad... it was an accident. I know it was an accident. I don't even know if they meant it. But they're scared of me now and they're hiding from me." Amos confessed.
Desjardins slowly sat up and hugged Amos. Amos started crying.
"I didn't want them to feel uncomfortable. They can call me that if they want to." Amos murmured.
"They're just like that. They will always be nervous around affection, that's just who they are." Desjardins comforted him. "All we can do is meet them in the middle and maybe do a bit more when it's difficult."
"But I can't even get to them." Amos stated.
"You can try. I know their favourite food, that should get them out." Desjardins smiled. "They must be hungry by now, did they even have breakfast?"
"They had some toast..." Amos wiped away his tears.
"Alright, I'll tell you the recipe."
-
Zia smelled falafel.
They cursed under their breath.
"Zebra said a bad word! Ehehe..." Ra giggled.
"I did. I did say a bad word." Zia groaned.
"Is Zebra going to go wee woo wee woo?" Ra asked.
Zia sighed, "I'm going to be fine without dinner. I'm not going out there again."
"Zebra stays with me? Ehehee!!!" Ra grinned.
Zia exhaled deeply, "Yes. Zebra stays with Ra. That's what's happening."
-
The smell of falafels was getting stronger. Specifically the smell of the ones Iskander always made for Zia.
"I swear to fucking Ra that Desjardins is behind this." They pinched the bridge of their nose.
"Zebra swear to who?" Ra laughed.
Zia sighed, "I didn't mean to do that. I'll be back. It's almost time for your nightly journey anyway."
Zia opened the door.
Amos looked at them.
"Hey, Zia." He said.
Zia felt sick looking at him. They knew that Amos felt uncomfortable with the nickname they accidentally used. They had viewed Amos as a parental figure for a while, especially in the last week. But they had promised themself to never mention that. Yet they had lost their filter whilst having a lighthearted moment, and had ruined the mood.
"Please don't think that I'm mad at you calling me dad. I think it's sweet that you view me that way, and if that's true I want to make sure to be there for you like that." Amos served out plates of falafel.
Zia walked closer and Amos smiled at them. He hugged them.
"I'm sorry I ruined the moment." Zia mumbled.
Amos held them close, "It's okay to run away. Just know I'm always here when you come back."
Zia sobbed, "I miss everyone... Iskander is gone, we almost lost Des..."
"Michel is fine. He's getting stronger. Let's eat some dinner and then we can go say goodnight to him." Amos responded.
Zia nodded and sat down with him.
-
Desjardins was sitting up in bed.
Zia rushed over to him, "You're sitting up! How do you feel?"
"I feel okay. It still hurts a bit but it's alright to do." Desjardins chuckled, ruffling Zia's hair.
Zia patted their hair down and groaned, "Do you always have to do that? Amos has started doing it now too."
Desjardins smiled at Amos.
Similar.
"Do you need anything, Michel?" Amos asked.
"Nope, I'm okay with just you two." Desjardins replied.
"Us... two? Do you want me to stay with you both tonight?" Amos' face flushed.
Zia mumbled, "It would be nice..."
Desjardins looked at Amos warmly.
Amos sighed happily, "I'll figure out a way."
-
Zia fell asleep first. Desjardins' arm was around them and they were breathing together slowly.
"We did this a lot on missions we were on together. If we weren't at a nome, or if we were at an unsafe one, we would sleep next to each other." Desjardins smiled.
"That sounds nice. Julius and I never really did that. I wish I could have been closer to him." Amos sighed.
Desjardins closed his eyes, "You said it yourself, Amos. We all have time left."
Amos yawned, "I suppose."
-
Amos woke up. Desjardins had Zia in his lap and he was braiding a rattail for Zia.
Amos suddenly felt all of his blood rush to his face. He slept in the same bed as Desjardins last night. He slept next to Desjardins. He slept with
he
"I'm going to go make breakfast." He stammered, rushing out of bed.
Zia smirked, Desjardins frowned.
"He's acting weird." Desjardins said.
"Wonder why." Zia giggled.
-
Amos walked in with breakfast for Desjardins. Zia had left to be with Ra.
Desjardins looked up at Amos. He felt something deep within him stir up. Maybe it was the fact that Amos had been making food for him every day, or maybe it was the fact that Amos took care of Zia when Desjardins couldn't, or maybe it was the fact that Amos was attractive. Desjardins didn't know when he started thinking that, but he was sure of it that morning. Amos' shoulders were tense in the early break of dawn and his hair was just slightly messy.
"Thank you for doing all of this for me, Amos." He smiled. "I said yesterday that you had rubbed off on me, and it's true. If I had never met you I wouldn't be a person that Iskander or I would be proud of. I was a bad person, I was wrong, before I met you. You changed the way I view things, thank you."
Amos blushed, "Where is this coming from?"
Desjardins stumbled, he was trying to stand up. Amos rushed up to him and supported his body. His hands instinctively went to Desjardins' waist.
"I want you." Desjardins confessed. "I want you with me, forever."
Amos stammered, "Wh-What do you mean by that?"
"I mean that I love you." Desjardins replied.
Amos relaxed his muscles.
"You do?"
Desjardins leaned in and kissed Amos. Amos pulled Desjardins closer and repositioned his hands to be on Desjardins' hips.
"I love you too, Michel." Amos cried. "When I heard that you had performed that spell... when I saw you lying there... I knew I couldn't lose you. You matter to me."
"I think we both matter to each other." Desjardins responded, lifting his hand to Amos' cheek.
Desjardins kissed him again. Their tongues met.
"Ew." Zia said from the doorway.
Desjardins exhaled sharply, "Zia- You didn't- You didn't see that-"
He tried to walk towards Zia, but forgot that he could barely stand. He would have fallen if it weren't for Amos quickly grabbing him and pulling him close again.
"I'm glad you can stand now, but please remember you can't walk." Zia sighed, walking up to the two of them.
Desjardins frowned, "Please knock next time."
"The door was open!" Zia defended themself.
"They're right." Amos bit his lip.
Desjardins buried his head in the crook of Amos' neck, "Shut up..."
Zia smiled, "You've gone soft, big bro."
Desjardins pulled Zia into the hug, "So have you, lil bro."
Amos held them both.
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