The Demon Lord and his Hero (BL)

385  Welcome back

To say that Magnus was baffled was an understatement. One moment Lucien's emotions seemed reasonably self-contained and the next he had an arm full of the redhead in tears.

He cast desperate glances at Riha and Enkansh who had arrived somewhere around the time Lucien began to have his 'moment'. The sea-dwelling creatures furtively looked between them. This was quickly followed with their beating a hasty retreat back to their rooms. The sheer cowardice displayed by his housemates had Magnus gaping at the door after their escape.

"Hey," he murmured when it was obvious that help would not be forthcoming from his housemates, awake or otherwise. Magnus hadn't comforted a crying friend in what seemed like a hundred years. "I've got some food and wine."

Red closed his eyes, forehead leaning against the fire mage's chest. His lungs expanded and contracted as he tasted the air and tuned in to the sounds of the night. Magnus' heartbeat was strong, steady like the man himself.

"Yeah, that sounds good," Red replied when the silence began to stifle him. Rowan may have exposed him to Luci but the others remained none the wiser.

________

Twilight was two hours away and the sky was a familiar canvas of celestial light. Red lay on the grass with his hands behind his head. Magnus sat beside him with a bottle of something fruity in hand. Half the bottle had been drained by the redhead though the futility of it was obvious to them both.

"Weak wine."

His memories were fuzzy, patched by inferences where holes had formed because Luci had been absorbing them. And now he knew how death had claimed him in the past. Syryn fucking Nigh'hart- of course, it was his fault. Red chuckled, earning a dubious glance from the mildly perturbed Magnus. The universe turned on an axis with Syryn at the centre. Only Nigh'hart and his blond nitwit, Rowan, could be so disgustingly in love that the deities were forced to turn back time for them.

"Why don't you share with the class, Lulu?"

"It's Red, not Lulu." To think that he had despised the moniker in the first iteration of his life.

To Magnus' credit, he didn't spit out the wine and gape at Lucien like he'd sprouted an eye on his forehead- although that's how shocked he was about the return of Red. Lucien had been so subdued and quiet, so unlike himself but also unlike Red. The sound of an owl hooting filled the silence that came up between them.

"Welcome back, Red," he drawled and took a swig of the wine. When he was finally gaining a sense of stability in his -romantic? Platonic?- relationship with Luci, this had to happen. It wasn't to say that Magnus was unhappy about Red's return, no, he felt nothing but a deep sense of joy to have an old friend back. It was just that-

"Wanna make out and piss off Luci?"

Yes, that. Red was a menace to society and Magnus loved every bit of it when the troublemaker's cunning wasn't aimed at him.

(You're me. Why would I get mad?)

"Luci says we have his permission."

(That wasn't what I said.)

[Sounded like it to me.]

(Are you coveting my Magnus?)

[Oh it's like that now?MyMagnus? Since when?]

(It's one thing to have a voice in my head and another to argue with it. You know what, go right ahead and kiss him. I don't care. We're both gonna die soon so what does it matter?)

[Sharing is caring, am I right?]

(Hell yeah...)

Red's teeth gleamed like pearls as his lips parted in a smile.

[Well I'm not interested in your boyfriend. If I kiss him, the poor man will always find you wanting so consider this a favour from me.]

(Asshole.)

[Loser.]

Magnus watched the redhead smirk to himself and he was struck by the realisation that a conversation was going on inside Lucien's shared mind. The fire mage looked up at the sky and blinked as the heaviness in his chest lost some of its weight now that Red was back.

(Hey)

[What?]

(I wish you were real.)

[Not this again.]

(How do I know I haven't made you up?)

[Well, for starters, your imagination could never. You know me well, but do you know me well enough to come up with the story of what happened in the past? All you have to do is ask Rowan and he will confirm the truth of your dream.]

(Wait, wait, so you're really me from the past!)

[Took you long enough.]

(I think I'm gonna be sick.)

[Why?]

(I dreamt you came back but you were in another body and we- never mind.)

[Oh God, no! We didn't!]

(Ugh..)

[You're disgusting. I feel violated.]

(I'm sorry I mentioned it!)

[Why would you dream such a nightmare?!]

(Hey! Don't you ever get random dreams sometimes? It's not like I'm a narcissist that wants to sleep with myself..)

[Okay but stay far away from me, perv.]

(That's rich coming from you.)

[You're the one selfcesting us.]

(That's not even a real word. I'm as disgusted as you are so can we move on and forget about this?)

[How dare you.]

(It doesn't matter! Did you forget that the fucking world is ending? And where the hell have you been all this time???)

[Here, obviously.]

(That's it?)

[What do you want me to say?]

(You didn't even give us a proper goodbye! not even a by your leave before you just upped and disappeared from my life like Magnus and then Syryn had done.)

[I was here, wasn't I?! The hell was I gonna say goodbye for if I wasn't really leaving?]

(I didn't know that, asshole!)

Red's fingers furiously plucked at the grass as the argument between them began in earnest.

[I had some issues, Luci. It's in the past now so deal with it. If you bring it up again, I'll leave for good.]

(How can you say that so callously? I thought I meant something to you...)

[You do but this isn't a conversation I want to have with you.]

(Then with whom? Syryn? Rowan?)

[Maybe.]

(Then we're leaving today. We'll find Rowan and you can have that heart-to-heart conversation that I'm not good enough for. Don't worry about me eavesdropping because I don't give a damn about your secrets!)

"What are you guys talking about?" Magnus curiously asked.

"Luci is upset."

"Must be hard sharing a body and mind."

"I wish I could leave this body."

(Are you serious?)

[Yeah.]

"Syryn might know a way."

Magnus liked having Red around but his thing with Lucien was a hot mess waiting to happen if the two personalities had to share a body.

(Why??)

[You're an adult now, dumbass. I don't wanna wake up with a boner in your body or watch you getting dicked by Magnus. That's just weird even for us.]

(Oh...I.. I guess that's a valid reason, though I'm not getting dicked by Magnus..)

[Seduce him.]

(You think I haven't been trying?)

"Sleeping beauty better wake up or I'm gonna steal his body," Red darkly muttered.

(Hah! Rowan would kill you.)

[That he would.]

At least they weren't fighting anymore.