Sleep came easy for Jace once Callua left. Even so, he wasn’t as tired as either of them. It means he wakes up well before the man curled up against his chest. Propped up on his elbow, Jace finds he rather enjoys being the one who is awake first.
He brushes the hair away from Zye’s face as he sleeps. The peaceful countenance is one he wishes was always there. No tears or angry glares. No despair or anxiety about what’s happening. Only the softest touch of a smile on his face as he cuddles closer to Jace.
“I wish you could have this all the time,” he whispers while running a finger along Zye’s jaw.
There’s a twitch of a response as Zye rolls over away from him. It has Jace chuckling and moving closer, pressing up against Zye and placing a kiss on the top of his head. He lies there patiently, rubbing his hand across Zye’s stomach.
It’s not long before a yawn slips out of Zye as he begins to wake up. To which Jace wiggles down so that he can kiss the back of Zye’s shoulder.
“Good morning.”
Another yawn as Zye reaches up to rub at his eyes. “You really can wake me up if you need to.”
“It’s better if I don’t so that you can recover your energy naturally. Remember?”
“Mm…yeah, yeah. So what’s the plan for today?”
The hand on Zye’s stomach slips up, holding against Zye’s chest as he presses another kiss against Zye’s shoulder. “Kerse wants you to meet her in her room.”
“How…the hell do I get there?”
“Go downstairs where I showed you. I’ve asked for it changed into a long hallway and all you have to do is pick a door, think of her, and she’ll let you in.”
“But why?”
Another kiss but this time to the side of his neck. Zye smiles at the feeling of Jace’s lips slowly peppering against his skin. Between them, Jace explains.
“She wants to train with you.”
“Ugh, really? That’s a mood ruiner.”
“You don’t want to?”
“No. I really don’t. I don’t want to do anything.”
Jace chuckles. It’s awfully cute that Zye wiggles away from him.
“I want to go get some takeout, sit on my ass, and play a game. Or watch a movie and not think about anything.”
“Soon.”
Zye glances over his shoulder. “Haa…fine. But I need incentive.”
It’s a tease that Jace doubles down on. He raises an eyebrow before grabbing Zye’s shoulder. Jace pushes him down onto his back and promptly rolls over. Kneeling over Zye, he grabs the man’s wrists and holds them above his head.
“We don’t have time, but we could after. You go with Kerse. I’ll take care of things with Orion and let you know what our next move is.”
Zye can’t breathe. Rather, if he needed to, he wouldn’t be able to. He can only stare with wide eyes up at the man above him. Jace’s hair falls forward in a beautiful cascade of dark brown, almost black, around those piercing silver eyes.
The firm grasp on his wrists isn’t helping matters at all.
He hates the way he wants to react so viscerally. He wants to flip them over and dash it all, the day can wait for them. Zye knows he can convince Jace to be late for what he plans to do. Especially considering Jace’s face is so close and he can see the curve of neck to collarbone.
Zye swallows hard.
His gaze goes down further to the chest he didn’t realize wasn’t clothed. The lack of a shirt makes this even more dangerous. He pinches his eyes shut.
“Then get the hell off before I lose my mind.”
Jace chuckles as he sits up, moving to the edge of the bed. Zye is far too quick for Jace’s liking to crawl off the bed. He nudges Jace’s knee with a huff before stepping away. A soft glare is what he shoots back at his boyfriend.
“That was mean. I know you have urges, too. Then you do something like that that makes me think you don’t. Big, stupid tease.”
“Perhaps,” Jace replies while standing up as well.
Zye hesitates at the door, his fingers curling around the handle. He glances back at Jace with a smile. “I’ll call that bluff. Find me when you’re done then.”
“She’ll wear you out today.”
“Don’t worry about me. I have more endurance than you think. Now go have fun strategizing and I’ll see you later.”
He slips from the room and hurries to grab the clothes he left in the cleansing area. If only because he wants to snag the gloves Xerxes got him. Once he has, Zye leaves Jace to get ready for his day. Stepping out into the hall, he stares down the door to his room.
“Gotta bite the bullet eventually.”
It feels strange to have a home after so long. To have a room where he can go when everything is overwhelming. All he can do is hope that it looks how he wants it to. Using magic and energy is still very new.
And still very strange.
Zye goes over and opens the door. Immediately he’s hit with relief at the sight he’s given. It feels good.
It feels like home.
A mix of all the places he’s been in his life that bring him happiness.
It seems a bit minimalist, empty even. It’s a style that he can fill in as he gets more comfortable and finds things from his journeys.
The brushed wooden floor leads from the door to the split floor plan. It’s not overly large with a sectional divide between the open kitchen and the living area. The kitchen itself has a low wall that can also be used as a breakfast bar. On those counters is a sink to sit opposite of the stove and oven combo.
Zye strides over, allowing the door to shut behind him. He drags his hand over the smoothness of the black marble-like counter. The cabinets are a light brown with silver curled handles and knobs.
He glances out over to where the sectional couch sits. The dark blue material seems bright compared to the black rug it sits on top of. In front of it is a low, metal table with a glass surface. Against the wall, albeit empty, is an entertainment system that matches the coffee table.
“So far so good… Wish we could have windows. Maybe I should ask.”
Exhaling, Zye heads for the only other door next. He’s more than happy when he opens it and steps inside. The walls are a muted gray-blue to match the light gray rugs that sit on either side of the bed. It covers dark blue tile with speckles of gold and white that sparkle like stars in the sky.
Straight from where he stands, albeit slightly to the right, is a large bed. Considering Jace doesn’t have one like it, he made sure it would be a king-size like from Earth. A hammock he can’t roll around in with ample space. This bed? Absolutely, he can.
It’s dressed in dark, navy blue bedding with a white blanket folded at the end of the bed. Parallel from it, next to where Zye stands, is a black desk. A plain rolling chair with no arms is rolled up to it and the notebooks sitting on top of it. They’re blank with simple white covers.
Zye figures he should take a page out of Hax’s book and write things down. If he’s going to live like this then he should. He knows that it’s not a guarantee that he’s going to live forever. Still, it’d help him not go too crazy with the monotonous part of this afterlife.
Striding inside, he glances about in hopes of making sure everything is there. The closet is inlaid to the left of the entrance to the room. Sliding mirror doors are open to show the empty closet. He’ll have plenty of time to fill it.
He heads to the bathroom next. Peaking his head in, he’s more than happy with how it turned out.
The black tile with white grout lines stands out beautifully against the creamy white walls with hints of gray as a gradient up from the baseboards. Straight ahead is a small sink sat into a meager set of three cabinets with a countertop that resembles the kitchen.
To the left is a shower with a slow lip and a long pane of glass with a door ajar. It’s more modern and what he’s used to. On the right, is a pool of water that resembles a long rectangular bathtub. It’s big enough for two if nothing else.
Retreating from the bright light filtering down from the ceiling, Zye turns around. He sighs and shakes his head. “I have no idea how to do this.”
Holding out a hand, he concentrates. No one explained how to summon his Mark. Only that he can and should. He regrets not probing for more information before he left Jace’s room.
“Come on, something has to be easy around here. Wanna appear for me?”
Zye slowly cracks an eye open and he’s genuinely surprised to see a small creature there. Compared to Zye, it’s about half his height and stares up at him with small, black eyes. They resemble dots on the face rather than fully formed eyes.
There are small, dark dashes above them like eyebrows. As well as a petite nose and mouth. It looks different than Jace’s, that much he knows.
“Uh, hey. Can you talk?”
It shakes its head and steps forward, raising its hand for Zye. Gently, he takes the tiny hand in one of his.
“That’s okay. Maybe we can figure that out. Mind if I ask for some clothes?”
A slow nod and a smile.
The Mark tugs its hand away and holds both of them to its chest. A glow emits from its chest before it holds out folded clothes up to Zye. The man takes them, watching as the Mark tilts its head to the side.
“Oh. That’s all. You can…do whatever you do, I guess. I might have something for you to do later. If you want.”
Zye mentally reprimands himself. Of course, it wants to. It’s a piece of his power, he knows this, and it’ll do whatever he tells it to do. Still, it doesn’t feel right to simply order it around.
Regardless, the Mark nods and turns around. As it walks away, Zye can see the simplified symbol of a sun on its back. The ‘rays’ surrounding the purple circle are small triangles instead of lines.
“Guess I better hurry before she comes looking for me.”
He changes into a pair of loose jeans and a white t-shirt. As he leaves the bedroom, he catches sight of the Mark lingering near the couch.
Zye can’t help himself.
Striding over has the Mark looking up at him. Zye gestures to it. “You can sit on it while I’m gone.”
It points to him and he assumes it’s asking about his clothes.
“The ones I left in there you can just clean up and leave on the bed. Don’t think you can reach up that high in the closet anyway…Relax, I’ll be back.”
Patting its head, Zye turns and hurries to the door. He pushes away the thoughts of how strange this still is. Worse yet when he makes it downstairs there are two types of people. They either get friendly and come over when he nears where everyone is sitting or they shy away.
Zye tells himself it’s fine. He can handle this. Shae and his mother taught him how to manage. Smile, disarm, keep moving. At least, he does until a rather cute girl bounds over to him.
She looks like a squirrel and not only because she has a thick, bushy tail behind her or small ears atop her head. She’s simply…petite and adorable in every way. From the large brown eyes to the short gray hair that curls around her face.
“Hi, I hope I’m not bothering you. I got to see you when Jace introduced you to us but I wanted to introduce myself personally.”
“Right, hey. Not a bother, it’s fine.”
“Yay!” She glances behind her. “I told you guys it’d be fine.” Turning back to look up at him, she smiles wide. “I got to train with Callua a lot, not so much any Infernals. Or meet them…or…see them. So this is cool!”
“I’m glad. There’s still a lot going on, but we should be around more soon.”
“Really? And…and we get to work with Stars now, too? Like, we won’t be reprimanded if we do it openly?”
“That’s the plan. The others probably have more, uh, news on that.”
“Oh, right, you’re surely busy. Sorry to keep you.”
Zye smiles softly, hoping to ease her back down. She has far too much energy and it’s overwhelming. In a good way.
“Not really. I’m going to see Kerse, that’s all.”
“She just left the training area. She took out twenty of us. I don’t know how she does it. Oh, I’m Melody by the way.”
From behind her comes a voice. “She’s a one-woman army, that hasn’t changed.”
Zye is already stepping aside. “It was nice to meet you, Melody. Wish me luck.”
Melody turns back to her friends while Zye makes a beeline for the door Jace told him about. It takes a moment to work up the nerve before placing his hand on it. He thinks about Kerse and gives a solid knock.
His knuckles barely leave it before it opens. Kerse stands there in a pair of what he can only assume are red workout shorts and a sports bra. At least, they look like something a person would work out in.
“Took you long enough.”
“Some of us like to rest.”
Kerse ignores him and steps away, allowing him in. “Everyone thinks you did well.”
Zye enters the small room and shuts the door behind himself. It’s hardly anything special or done up. Smooth floors that look wooden yet don’t feel like it. They’re a bit softer to step on even in tennis shoes. The walls are a very light yellow, a surprisingly soft shade. The bed sits off in the door— square, simple, and lacking a headboard-type frame.
Black sheets are crumpled up atop it with her normal clothes strewn across the end. What does catch his eye is the equipment. Between the front door and the one he assumes leads to where she cleanses, is a punching bag. It’s tethered to the ceiling and floor by a thick chain.
Across from the bed is a small table and a chair in front of it. Off to the side he catches sight of a full-length mirror and various weights stacked next to it. That’s when it hits him.
“You don’t have a Mark. How do you get anything you need?”
“Fool, that’s not why you’re here.” Even so, she gestures to the mirror. “We all get one. A baby version of the big one out there that you use. We can summon small items, things we need, clothes, and stuff like that.”
“Huh…Right. It’s not very big. Do you want me to see if they can—”
“Tch, it’s fine. Does what it needs to do.”
“Don’t you miss your old digs?”
Kerse stares at him. Blank and confused. It has Zye heaving a sigh. Of course, she’s like Jace and has no idea what he’s saying. Times like this he misses Callua. She might be like them, but she spent far more time on Earth.
“Your room.”
“As long as I can train privately, I don’t care.”
“Sorry again about your…demotion I guess we can call it.”
“I don’t care what rank I am as long as I can do what I enjoy.”
He watches her walk over to the bed. “Humor me, what’s that? Punching things?”
Kerse glances over her shoulder. “Partly,” she replies.
“And the other half?”
“The day you can beat me in a fight, I’ll tell you.”
“Technically, already have.”
Zye watches her movements as she scoops up a box from beside the bed. She carries it over to the table, sets it down, and sits on the chair.
“No. You all beat me. Not your scrawny ass. Now come over here.”
He rolls his eyes, yet does as she asks. Stopping before her, Zye glances at the roll of bandages she pulls out of the box. Kerse holds out one hand and he assumes she’s going to wrap his with the bandages. He wants to ask where she learned to do it.
Except the second she begins on one of his hands, he forgets to ask.
Kerse’s touch is shockingly gentle. Feather-light and soft. It’s like a lingering breath each time she brushes over his skin. Zye gives her his other hand and she’s quick to do that one as well.
Once she’s done, she looks up at him. “Fists or legs?”
“Uh…either?”
“Fine. Both it is. When you can’t stand I want you to push past that even still. See how long you can do that.”
“This is going to suck,” he murmurs while stepping back. He flexes his fingers and wrists against the wrappings on them.
Kerse raises a brow at that, eying him as he does. “I have shorts you can borrow. You’re pretty thin, they might fit.”
“Dammit, that’s not what I meant. Shut up and tell me what to do.”
“Beat the shit out of that thing. I’ll correct you as you go. Let’s see if what they taught you has any worth,” she replies while standing up.
“No one showed me how to fight like this. I mean…I trained with Ilista but I could throw a punch way before this. That, I taught myself. Kinda. Kass did show me a few tricks.”
“Then we have something in common. So start already or I’ll kick your ass instead.”
Zye huffs at the order regardless of agreeing to do it. He’s already striding over to the punching bag. It’s been what feels like ages since he’s been in front of one. A few practice taps is all he risks prior to starting lest she get irritated with his dilly-dallying.
The rattling of the chain mingles with the grunts from each kick or punch. Pushing himself isn’t anything new lately. However, the physical aspect of this is. It reminds him of times he’s gotten into fights with other people.
Or had to run from them.
By the time he can feel his body wanting to give out, he’s lost count of the time. It’s nearly impossible considering there are no clocks or sense of it whatsoever here. Even so, the quick count of seconds as he started dwindled away faster than he’d care to admit.
His elbows feel like liquid jelly while his knees dare to buckle. The only thing keeping him standing as he glares at the bag before him is his pride. He won’t dare stop until Kerse gives the signal.
It’s his own way of proving he can do it. Less about showing off and more about holding his own. That he belongs here. That he deserves to be here.
Kerse slaps him on the back with a smug grin on her countenance. “Take a seat before you pass out.”
Zye is more than happy to let his legs bend so he can sit down on the floor. Following that is laying back, grateful he angles himself so that his head doesn’t hit the corner of the bed.
Despite not needing air, his chest still burns as he stares up at her ceiling. A singular globe sits in the center to light the room. Even looking up at it, it doesn’t seem to burn his eyes. Regardless, he glances away in search of her.
“You’re terrible,” he huffs at Kerse.
“If you can’t handle this, you wouldn’t have lasted a second with Charm.”
“Hah, I believe that.” Finally, he lulls his head to the side to meet her eyes when she looks down at him. “I’m glad you can still talk about them.”
“Tch, what the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“That it’s healthy. You lost two people you cared about, gotta process it in your own way.”
“You’re annoying.”
“So I’ve been told.”
There’s a moment of silence as he realizes perhaps bringing it up wasn’t helpful.
“Got any water?”
She quirks a brow at him while putting the box away. “My cleansing chamber is through—”
“To drink, dummy. I’m dying.”
“You are not. Your body doesn’t work like that, get used to it already.”
He glares up at her as she strides over to him. “You’re mean today.”
Kerse extends a hand down toward him with a softening expression. One that surprises him, to say the least. “You did well. Come see me every cycle unless you get badly hurt from a mission.”
Slowly, Zye sits up and takes the offered help. She gives a tug to get him to stand. Once he has, he smirks at her. “What if I skip?”
“I’ll hunt you down. Not even Jace can save you.”
“Guess I’ll see you next time.”
His hand slips from hers as he turns. A single step has his feet burning and his body aching. Even so, he knows a good soak should patch him back up if nothing else. As he reaches the door, he gives a wave over his shoulder.
“Thanks, Keke.”
“Wait.” She moves after him and then stops. He can hear the sigh slip from her lips without having to look. “Do me a favor?”
Zye glances over his shoulder, “Anything.”
“Get stronger than either of them.”
For a moment, he hesitates. He wants to ask her why and what that could mean. Until it hits him. While they might not be particularly close, it makes him happy to know she’s reaching out. Out of everyone, Kerse feels the easiest to talk to.
He’d never want to cause her more loss than what she’s dealing with. Especially when he sees the subtlest glints of watery eyes.
“Don’t worry about that. I’m like a cockroach apparently, can’t kill me that easily.”
“I…don’t know what that is.”
“Probably a good thing. Make sure you get some rest.”
Leaving Kerse’s room, Zye can barely get the door shut before he feels that all-familiar tingle. Perhaps it’s because he’s finally relaxing and not concentrating on whatever Kerse barked at him to do.
The first message from Aster is swiftly followed by a second— one letting him know he can wait, it’s fine.
Zye isn’t shocked to see that Aster is, indeed, still waiting for him. Passing those chattering and relaxing, he can spot Aster sitting on the staircase. The grin Aster flashes up at him hardly helps the ache in his hands.
Aster stands and steps aside, gesturing for Zye to go ahead. “How are you feeling?”
“Fine, considering I was with Kerse.” Each step up feels like he’s climbing a small mountain. “I’ll get some rest and be fine.”
“You’ll have to be careful. It’s a lot of energy to fight the way you do. Remember, your weapon isn’t your soul’s manifestation of power.”
Zye stops, turning back to Aster. “Wait, what?” A nod has him continuing up the stairs while Aster explains.
“Jace doesn’t have a problem. His magic is his weapon. Whereas you have to focus on creating one. It’s why we still have our weapons even if we get low on energy.”
“I had that problem even when I was with Orion.”
“Probably because you had Hax, too.”
“Yeah, that’s figures.” Zye crests the landing and steps toward his door but goes no further. He waits for Aster to move up so that they can talk and be away from the stairs. “So, why did you want to see me?”
“Really?”
Aster chuckles and holds out the folded clothing he has been carrying the entire time. Zye blinks, staring at it as if it had simply manifested in that moment.
Wanting to lie down on the floor isn’t helping.
“I finished your coat. If you still want it.”
“Really? That was fast.”
“The Mark did all of the work.”
Zye takes the coat from Aster and nods toward his room. “Want to come in or are you busy?”
“Might as well. Lead the way.”
Guiding Aster to his door, Zye allows him to enter first. Aster doesn’t get very far in. Only enough for Zye to slip around him while holding the coat. He glances back to see Aster’s eyes wide and staring at everything.
“You went…normal with it.”
Zye shrugs and moves further in. “It’s what I know.”
“I get it,” replies Aster as he follows. “They didn’t get what we did so their rooms are all similar. This probably feels a lot more comfortable.”
“That’s a good way to put it.”
Stopping halfway to the kitchen counter, Zye turns and lets the coat unfurl. He stares at it while rubbing his thumbs against the material. Soft yet not distractingly so. He turns it around to check the back and spots the design.
The coat itself is the same shade of blue as what’s on the gloves Xerxes gave him. Except it fades into a bright teal toward the bottom with a single stripe of that blue separating it. Much to Zye’s relief, it has a hood and short sleeves— something he finds much more comfortable than longer ones.
On the back, however, is a circle of that same bright teal shade. To either side of it is a pair of black claws grasping at it. All while a tail of purple drapes down over the top and curls down toward that stripe of slate-blue color.
“Damn Aster…”
“You don’t have to use it.”
“No, that’s not what I meant. I…thanks, man. I really like it. Better than anything I have right now.”
Aster rolls his eyes at that. “I know perfectly well your closet is probably empty. I’m sure Callua or Ilista would take you shopping.”
“I, uh, I’ll pass for now. That sounds exhausting.”
“Ilista, perhaps. Callua seems calm enough,” Aster shoots back while meandering about the room. He takes in every inch of the simply decorated space.
Zye sets the coat against the counter after he folds it back up. “Glad you two are getting along.”
Nodding while he turns back to him, Aster crosses his arms. “It’s nice to have new faces. We have a lot of extremes in Noctis.”
“Like there aren’t here?”
“No. You and Jace are perfectly normal. Callua isn’t extreme. Kerse…I’m not sure yet. Celeste is all over everything like a small animal that just discovered something new. Orion is too shy unless it’s talking about all of this. Ilista is Ilista. All I have left is Iris and she’s far too excitable.”
“What I’m hearing is, is you want to visit more.”
“Oh, and Xerxes. But he’s usually with Ilista. And honestly, if you don’t mind. If it gets me out of work now and then, even better.”
“Slacker,” Zye replies with a grin.
“And you’re not?”
“Hell no. I want to slack, I just don’t usually get the chance. I worked three jobs at one point. No rest for the wicked.”
That has Aster laughing and walking back over. “You’re not wicked.”
“Not to you. So, what do you have planned, or are you busy?”
Aster levels him with a stare. “Are you kidding? I’m getting out of your hair for now. I came this way knowing I had a small window before Jace got back so go get some energy before he does.”
“He doesn’t care if you’re here.”
Already nearing the door that was left ajar, Aster shakes his head. The motion sends his ponytail bobbing back and forth. “You both will if I’m third wheeling. Have a good rest with him. I’m out.”
“That’s— we don’t just jump each other the second we’re alone!”
Aster grabs the door frame and turns, proceeding to snag the door handle with this other hand. “If I had a boyfriend in this afterlife, I wouldn’t tell him no when he came home. Enjoy it.”
Flushing a bit at the corners of his eyes, Zye huffs when the door gives a harsh click shut. He can’t deny what Aster is implying. He’d love for that to happen. Still, that’s not always in the cards. Not when shit loves to hit the fan the second there’s a moment of peace.
Nonetheless, Zye grumbles as he snatches the coat up to take to his room.
“Stupid Aster…can’t think about that. No telling when Jay will be back anyway. Bath and make myself at home, that’ll work.”
ns 15.158.61.8da2
