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The events of the previous weeks have not sat well for either of them. Though everything had returned to 'normal' and everything was 'fine', the reality was that nothing is fine at all. Both Hythlodaeus and Azem had arrived and for a while Emet-Selch was content to simply bask in it and live a little, but Noctium had other plans for the trio. To say he is brooding over it would be an understatement, the whole event does not sit right with him for many reasons.

Hythlodaeus on the other hand, appears to have been incredibly cheerful and clingy the last few days- to the point where it is becoming a little much. Not that the affection was unwanted mind you- he simply wanted space to think.

After his shower however Emet-Selch was far more receptive to it. Apparently that shower worked wonders in refreshing both his body and his mind, for when he returns to the sofa he is in fact quite happy, eager even to be nestled up together once more.

"We can. To be honest, although I am glad to be back I am getting rather sick of staring at these walls." He turns his head, planting a kiss on top of Hythlodaeus' head, then another. "Let's go somewhere new."

He can tell he's being clingy, to the point that he's kind of irritating himself- but he can't seem to stop it. He's never been the type to fall into despair no matter what the situation is, as long as he can find something hopeful to cling onto. In this case, the hope is that he has Azem and Hades.

He brightens as Emet-Selch presses a kiss to his head, taking it as a sign he's not getting on his nerves just yet. "As am I, my friend. What should we get? We have the money to spare... we could go anywhere."

Where to indeed? In a rare change of heart he'd rather not eat anything that reminds them too much of home, and it would take too much time to travel out of the city proper and find something truly new.

His friend's mention of money however, has him thinking. They do have a sum saved up with nothing major to spend it on, since most of the time the trio can simply weave magicks to obtain items they want.

"...What do you say to wasting some of that money?" The talk of currency reminded him of the very extravagant hotel in the middle of the Ruby Plaza. Their meals are said to be both ridiculously expensive and delicious, which may be the distraction they need.

"We have no need for it." He speaks, letting his chin rest on his friend's head while waiting for a response. "I say we go blow it all at the Estancia. Apparently their garden is on the rooftop, overlooking the entire city."

"Oh? I like this idea." He chuckles, already trying to think of what he'd wear. Which isn't really something he's ever had to think about in his life... so he's a little lost.

"Must we dress nicely in order to go there?" He doesn't think sweatpants and a t-shirt would go down well, somehow. From what he understands, their usual outfits are mostly considered to be for lounging about the house in.

"We would need to change if we want them to let us in." Not too difficult to accomplish, they can easily reweave what they are wearing, create something new entirely, or simply buy it as a last resort.

"Do you have something in mind? Or you can the network for ideas easily enough." Another hair kiss, before he is lifting himself up off of the sofa and stretching. Unlike his friend, Emet-Selch had no issues in wearing other clothing, and had become quite accustomed to it over the years.

"Or I can just choose for the both of us, so the sooner we can go?" He extends a hand out, an invitation to assist his friend in getting up.

He takes the hand and grins. "By all means pick something for me. I am eager to see what you'd choose..."

Standing, he steps back after placing a kiss on his friend's lips, opening his arms. "I'm all yours." He chuckles after the fact, smiling brightly.

"Hmm.." He takes a good, long look at his friend, his gaze lingering as it travels from head to toe and back up again. "Stand still, I am trying to imagine it."

It helps to properly perceive the image in order to enact their magicks effectively, but nowhere near this much. He is simply enjoy the view for enjoyments sake.

"I have an idea. Close your eyes."

Emet-Selch waits until they are closed before working his magic with a trademark snap, and once Hythlodaeus opens them once more he shall see them in matching attire.

"This type of clothing seems popular for the district. Though I made ours less boring." He explains, stepping forward to reduce the gap between them before to ask for some critique. "Thoughts?"

Whether Hythlodaeus likes ot or not, Emet-Selch definitely believes the man look stunning in it, it fits his form well. So if nothing else, he has gained a boon by being able to witness it.

He knows that Emet-Selch doesn't need to imagine it this hard, and he laughs to himself as his eyes close. If his friend wishes to enjoy the view, who is he to deny him?

Opening his eyes again, he looks down at himself. He quite likes the purple, and seeing that Emet-Selch is in matching clothing, he smirks. Oh, but his friend does fill that suit out nicely.

Giggling, he takes Emet-Selch's hands. "Your taste is impeccable. Let us leave quickly, hm? Before we end up in the bedroom again." He wanted to go out to eat, he can ravage Hades again later.

"A smart move." Hades agrees, they both look good and there is an agreeable mood hanging around them despite everything, but the plan was for dinner and creating some entertainment.

"In fact.." holding his friends hands tighter, he invokes magicks in order to teleport them out of their home and to the Ruby district, outside of their destination.

"...let us remove that distraction for now." Better to remove that temptation now. Fun for after dinner, perhaps. Motioning to the hotel building, he ushers them in that direction.

"I heard their specialty is a ten course meal." How very extra it sounds, a perfect distractor.

He keeps hold of one of Emet-Selch's hands once they've been teleported to the Ruby district, tugging him along to the building.

"We can eat until we feel nauseous. I think that sounds like an excellent waste of money."

Getting inside isn't a problem, luckily. Hythlodaeus had wondered if they might be coming at a bad time, what with couples seemingly out for the same reason, but this place is apparently expensive enough that people are mostly sticking to cheaper options. And surrounded by those couples, it's hard not to feel in the mood... he steals adoring glances at Emet-Selch when he thinks he isn't looking, but the synchrony of their held hands does, as usual, betray him.

Emet-Selch had been counting on the fact that this place was so high in price that it would not be crowded, and thankfully that faith seems to have paid off and the wait for a table is barely any time at all.

And despite being out in public it seems that today he is perfectly happy to be holding hands and the like, if the smile on his face is anything to go by. Not his usual stance but he cannot help but want to remain close this evening especially when, as always, even this simple handholding can produce synchrony which feels so safe and warm.

So much so that when they are seated, he refuses to let go of his partner's hand, letting them rest on the table instead.

"You know, even for something as chaste as this I sometimes believe our manna feels better than it would with anybody else here, no matter what they attempted."

The waiter is ignored for a moment, wanting to say these words felt far more important.

"But it is to be expected, of the person I favor the most on this entire star." Just incase that was not painfully obvious already.

Obvious it may be, Hythlodaeus still glows under the words. Squeezing Emet-Selch's hand, he smiles warmly and glances at their hands entwined.

"Words left unsaid for so long... said through this mysterious magic instead."

He glances up at his friend meekly. A serious talk about their feelings... long overdue, in his opinion. And with the magic of synchrony he doesn't have to find the exact words to convey just how he feels. Perhaps there are no words for how he feels. They pale in comparison to what he's trying to describe.

"Perhaps this is what we needed, hm?" A place where their feelings could so conveniently be expressed. Even if it hasn't been entirely pleasant- the blip into that future comes to mind- they've at least got each other, and everything has finally been laid bare.

“The magic does a fine job of expressing it, better than words in a lot of ways.” He gives another short squeeze to their hands to bring attention to the feeling generating between them. “Though I think there are still some things where only the words will suffice. Especially today.”

It isn’t even anything to do with the holiday today, or the other couples. Emet-Selch simply finds himself with the urge to talk about it tonight, a rare state when usually he would much rather not be delving into a conversation on emotions and feelings.

Of course the waiter comes back to ruin the moment. He offers to change the table wear to ‘match the colours of their attire’. He places down the designated menu for the night- a ten course meal where each dish has been given a silly, cheesy, romantic name. He places down the wine list. He places down the water list. Oh, this is going to absolutely be over the top and extravagant.

“Choose whatever you wish. I’ll have the same.” Water is water, after all. But the ones offered here come from different regions or mountainous springs. Seriously..

Hythlodaeus has to bite his lip to stop from laughing at the water list. It's water. He decides to pick the one with the most extravagant sounding name, simply because he can. As for wine, he just... picks whatever his finger lands on. If the waiter disapproves of that method, his smile doesn't waver. He simply describes the wine- an opulent, satisfying red- and lets them know exactly where the grapes came from before he leaves them to their ten course menu. Hythlodaeus rolls his eyes good-naturedly as soon as the man is out of sight.

"As fascinating as the origin of those grapes was..." He looks to Emet-Selch expectantly. He doesn't know entirely what to expect- they've shared tender moments before, but never like this. This seems almost serious in nature, which Hythlodaeus might have shied away from if it were anyone else. Heh... once again, Emet-Selch gets away with so much more than anyone else can.

"How thrilling. I cannot wait for him to return and provide us with an answer to yet another question nobody asked."

The deadpan tone being a dead give away that he is not invested at all in the nature of grapes, or water, or who is baking the desserts today. Back to the matter at hand. Emet-Selch concludes that in order to give a satisfactory explanation and to properly clear the air, they should start at the beginning.

"Listen well. I don't want to have to do this twice, it is awkward enough already despite me being the one who wants to do it." Honestly part of him wonders why it has to be right now, they were dealing well enough by ignoring it for the majority of the time. Such are the way of his whims, he supposes.

"The three of us were friends for a long time, when we were younger. You both irritated me to no end. You still do, at times." He pauses, time to get a little serious as he finally gets around to what he wanted to say.

"But then the Final Days happened, and everything which came after. And while horrific to the extreme, that long, long time alone with naught but my memories for company gave me ample opportunity to reflect on what your friendships meant to me. And how much I missed you. And--"

Of course the waiter is back at the worst possible moment. This time he has a friend. They pass out both the water and the wine, as well as serving the beginnings of their food- a salad which seems to be only three forkfulls of actual food yet doused in marinade, exactly one-third of a bread roll, and the tiniest bowl of soup known to man. The waiter is, of course, talking again about the origins of the food before Emet-Selch shoots a glare strong enough to possibly kill a man.

"As I was saying.." He calls out annoyed, watching the staff leave, "My point to all that was I missed you both, really missed you. But you most especially."

He pauses a moment, just because he realises that this is suddenly becoming a lot and now that he's opened his mouth he can't seem to stop it.

"And it took a while to figure out, but I eventually realised that my sentiments towards you when it came to our friendship were not entirely platonic."

Finally he lets go of Hythloadeus' hand, to pick up a fork and begin munching on the food provided.

"There is much more to say on the matter, but if we do not begin eating they are going to walk back over here and we shall never know peace."

The whole thing is a mix of emotions- amusement at Emet-Selch's self-inflicted predicament, mild annoyance at the waiters, who admittedly are only doing their jobs but he wishes they would read the room, and a seriousness as the Final Days are mentioned along with how Emet-Selch feels. As Emet-Selch lets go of his hand, Hythlodaeus eyes the food, picks up his fork, and pointedly shoves the entire salad into his mouth at once as if to protest how little there is.

It's much like simply eating a slightly larger forkful of salad, and he finishes it pretty quickly. At which point he dabs daintily at his mouth with his napkin, and tries to figure out how to say how he feels while the waiters hover poised to take their plates in the background. How very distracting.

"I suppose the best way to go about this would be to simply wait until we're finished eating, hm?" That rooftop could be a nice place to talk about this. It also gives Hythlodaeus time to figure out how to say what he wants to say.

Honestly, three words would get across his feelings succinctly. But he feels that maybe he should try to elaborate. He doesn't even recall when he started to feel differently towards Emet-Selch, though. As far as he remembers, he may as well have loved him all his life.

“After the dinner, then.” It would be enter without the instant interruptions, and they were here for dinner after all, so he makes a point of only discussing their meal for the time being.

The food is very good at least, even though they appear to be heavily leaning into the ‘quality versus quantity’. When the waiter returns to remove some empty plates, Emet-Selch plays into it by asking which breed of cow provides the dairy products used in the meals, and whether it is a particular cow with a name. Of course he does not give a crap about it or if that is even a real thing but the waiter is absolutely flabbergasted that he cannot answer, which is some quality entertainment in itself.

“Well now we know that a ten course meal here equals roughly one singular meal anywhere else.”

He has to turn his face away from the waiter to hide the huge grin on his face, and when the waiter leaves again he looks to Emet-Selch appreciatively.

"I was rather hoping to come away from here feeling at least slightly full, but... I am enjoying myself, regardless." So to him, it's money well spent.

As the last of the plates are cleared, Hythlodaeus sips at his wine (he's had a couple by now) and eyes the bill left on the table with some complimentary mints. "Mm... expensive, as promised." He gets up to pay, tips the waiters, and returns to smile down at Hades.

"Come, the garden awaits."

"If we ever eat dinner here again, we must make sure we eat dinner beforehand." So laughable, good thing they weren't coming here with high hopes.

"Though we still have money left. We can go elsewhere for more food later. Or stay here and annoy them by calling the room service twenty times."

Either way, it is definitely time to leave. Emet-Selch picks up his wine glass to finish the whole thing off in one, slow gulp before standing and heading towards the hotel elevators.

Of course they have a concierge inside, because pressing buttons is too above rich people apparently, so not even the ride up is a private affair. Emet-Selch simply leans against the mirrored wall, letting their fingers intertwine until they finally reach the rooftop.

"Finally..." some privacy at last.

With their fingers linked together, Hythlodaeus tugs Emet-Selch into a more secluded area where they can see over the city, but in relative privacy.

"Ah... it's beautiful up here, is it not?" Though he can't help but to see the city in ruins- he closes his eyes briefly as if to block the mental image, because he's not intending to ruin things for them now, his grip on Emet-Selch's hand tightening. No, if anything, he should appreciate this moment even more. He chuckles, mostly to himself. Nothing left unsaid...

"Never could I have imagined we would be together again like this." And he appreciates that they got this chance, truly. Turning to face Emet-Selch, he steps closer and takes his other hand, bringing his knuckles up for a chaste kiss. "We mustn't waste this opportunity. And so while I have you here, my friend... there is something I would like to say."

He's never confessed to anyone before. He's always been more or less the kind of guy who kept things fun and casual. But with Emet-Selch, it's different. He's the only one Hythlodaeus could truly say he's been in love with.

"It could be said in one short sentence, I admit. But I am going to preface it anyway by saying that I have felt this way for as long as I can remember. It was perhaps what kept me from losing myself to despair during those long years on the moon. And even now, after millennia... I still feel the same way."

He glances down at Emet-Selch's hands in his own, but he looks back up with a fond smile as he continues because truly, if he's going to say this then he wants to look him in the face as he does so.

"That is to say, I have loved you for an eternity."

Hythlodaeus’ words do not come as a complete surprise, the synchrony had given away most of it after all. But still, to hear them spoken so clearly and not leaving ay doubt, and to know it had been for so long, it warms his heart to hear.

“I thought perhaps I was the only one.” Holding their hands together tightly, Emet-Selch steps closer, to allow their foreheads to rest together seeing as nobody else is around. “It’s obvious there is something there now, but our previous time together was so long ago that I could no longer tell what was really there, and what I came to believe due to so much time reminiscing over the past and what could have been.”

Nothing left unsaid. Seeing as they are in this conversation, they should have it in its entirety. Emet -Selch pauses, lifting his head up in order to speak clearly, still holding their hands together firmly.

“You said it helped you on the moon. The truth is, the memories of our friendship were one of the few things I had left after everything was sundered. I told you earlier I missed you. I did not say how much.”

If he ever finds out later the reason for these current sentiments, he may actually be thankful for Malachite and the feelings of love they shared throughout the city. He may not have shared these thoughts otherwise, but it feels like such a relief to let them out in the open.

“I mourned the loss of our friendship and regretted how I downplayed it far too often. How, when asked, I would call you annoying but honestly that persistence was endearing. I realized what I felt was not simply friendship but more akin to love.”

And since they are letting it all out, he figures he may as well speak of the other thing that still weighs on his mind. However in the moment, it feels slightly awkward to discuss it. Emet-Selch is rarely embarrassed over things, especially these days, but he cannot help the dwelling sense of shame attached to it, especially once the memories of Ellis returned to them. Enough so that he finally drops Hythlodaeus’ hands from his own, choosing to instead lean on the balcony and observe the cityscape as he continues.

“In that time I spent far too long wondering to myself how you would act in any given situation, or what you would say to it. Sometimes it was not just imagination and I would simply act that way myself. Everything we were told on Elpis, happened. I filled a city with our dead. And you were there too. A shameful mockery, but it did not matter to me. I just wanted to see you again, to speak to you.”

One, last final declaration, relative to both the past and the preset they have witnessed. He turns to face Hythlodaeus once more, taking hold of one of his hands.

“I would have done anything to bring you back. I tried near everything. But nobody shall take you again, no matter what the fates or gods of this place have in mind. I will not allow it.”

One last thing:

“...Don’t breath a word of any of this to anyone I’m warning you. Especially not to Azem. I did not say a word.” It’s already enough that he’s even admitting to all of this, never mind letting anyone else know of it too.

He's quiet as Emet-Selch speaks, and once he pauses Hythlodaeus moves closer, stroking his thumb across his friend's cheek. To hear it laid bare, finally... he couldn't be happier, in that moment.

"It will be between us, you have my word." It's too personal to share with others. Even Azem... no, he will keep this close to his heart and respect Hades' wishes.

Leaning in, he presses a soft kiss to his lips. It feels different now that they've admitted their feelings. The synchrony is strong even with a simple kiss, and he's loath to pull back.

"I pray that we are never parted again." He holds Emet-Selch's hand to his chest- he wonders idly if he could feel his heart pounding with affection for him. To be so utterly in love... what a blessing and a curse, all at the same time.

"We won't. Not if I have anything to do with it." As a hand rests upon Hythlodaeus' chest, feeling the steady rhythm of his heartbeat below, Emet-Selch's free hand lifts to rest on his cheek as he is now the one to lean in, returning the kiss.

The kisses are always nice but now that they are no longer actively trying to muffle the synchrony it seems to be even more potent, and Emet-Selch too finds he is loathe to end it, and perhaps would not if he did not already have something else in mind.

"Let us stay here tonight." He breaks from the kiss slowly, letting his hands slide down as the fingers of one hook around Hythlodaeus' own. "We have money we do not need and no commitments, and I do not plan on leaving this building until my hunger has been completely satiated."

He really hopes he gets given a room on a high floor, only because it will make the room service trips more annoying.

"Heheh... I like this idea." He starts to tug Emet-Selch out of their little area, back towards the elevator. They can come back later, but for now he's thinking of ordering expensive cakes.

"I said I was going to eat until I was nauseous, I still fully intend to do so." He's going to sample all of their desserts. Not all at once, though. He'll need to order a few at a time.

He keeps hold of Emet-Selch's hand in the elevator, leaning into him- he still feels warm and fuzzy from their talk, replaying the conversation over again in his mind.

They ride the elevator in relative silence, interrupted as it is by the chaperone, but simply leaning against each other during the ride is pleasant enough. Part of Emet-Selch cannot believe they actually went through with the talk this time, but it is such a relief to have done so. He does not experience this often, but one could say he feels happy right now.

It does not take long to ask for a room from the front desk, not when they offer to pay whatever is needed for a decent room with a good bathroom and a greater view.The elevator takes them back up to a higher floor and they soon enter their room- it does in fact have a spectacular view of the city in sunset.

"A breathtaking view, honestly. But we have something far more important to attend to right now.."

Emet-Selch turns and takes Hythlodaeus' hands once more, walking forward to kiss him, a proper kiss that is finally unwatched by nosy staff. This kiss is in no way chaste, for he has been waiting to do that ever since they entered the building, but he breaks away soon after, before they get distracted from what they truly want.

"Here." Reaching over to the sidetable close by, he picks up a folder and hands it to his companion. They have a whole night and there is no reason to start it off hungry. "I'm starving, order two of everything."

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