Chapter Text
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Mu moved back into the restored Aries Temple the next day with mixed feelings. He was back at his station as the first line of Sanctuary's defense, but from the moment he stepped inside the Temple it didn't quite feel quite right. Too quiet, too empty, too impersonal.
It didn't feel like – home.
It was odd. He'd hadn't minded being alone in Tibet, where months would go by with little more than the sound of his own heartbeat. Now, he was startled to realize how quickly he'd become accustomed to – and how much he now missed – the background noise of life in Scorpio Temple. The thudding of the water pipes when hot water came through. The rumble of the television, conducted through the thick stone walls. The fluting wind in the fireplace. The muted, subsonic hum of the refrigerator.
"You don't look happy," Aldebaraan said, filling the doorway. He was holding something behind his back.
Mu smiled. As always, it was good to see the friendly face with its crooked boxer's nose. "I think it will take a while before this Temple feels like my home again."
"It's that new marble smell," Aldebaraan joked, stepping inside. "You need something to counteract it." He brought his hands around: in them was a huge bunch of wild herbs – sage and myrtle and heather and lemongrass. "If this doesn't help, we can bring in something stronger. Like a few goats, or Aiolia's laundry."
Mu laughed. "You are – a good friend, Aldebaraan of Taurus. There is no one in Sanctuary whose company I enjoy more."
A shadow flickered across Aldebaraan's face. "I'm glad we can be friends," he said somberly, then, suddenly awkward, he turned to go. "I'm helping Marin and Shaina with the weight training today."
After he left Mu put the rest of his few possessions away, donned his Cloth, and sat on the windowsill overlooking the training ground. Much of being a Saint was being "on guard," and usually he fell into the state of intense, meditative alertness easily, but today he felt out of sorts and the day crawled. He tried to read some of the Pali book ("You can borrow any of my books as long as you like," Milo had said, with pointed emphasis on the word "my") but by late afternoon the silence in his Temple had become oppressive.
What did he want to do?
His eyes fell on the armload of green on the table. He wanted company.
He ran up the stairs to Taurus. A folded piece of paper with his name on it was pinned to the lintel post. Inside it read, "At a soccer game (Brazil playing). Back late. See you tomorrow."
Mu was quite disappointed.
He went to bed early, but his sheets, crisp and starchy from the package, irritated him. He missed the feel and smell of the bedding at Milo's. He missed other things, too. He wanted someone to sleep next to. He wondered what Milo was doing. He lay awake most of the night, staring at his ceiling. Near dawn he finally gave up on the attempt to sleep and dressed. He'd meet Aldebaraan for a morning workout.
The Taurus Saint had a guest. As Mu walked into the back rooms of Taurus Temple he saw tall man in a red silk robe preparing Greek coffee on Aldebaraan's kerosene camp stove. The dark-haired, broad-shouldered stranger seemed very at home. Who was he, Mu wondered, and what was he doing here so early?
Than it hit him. Of course. This person had been an overnight guest. He had probably slept in Alde's bed. He had ... probably slept with Alde. The thought made Mu feel mildly hurt. Why hadn't Aldebaraan said anything about having a lover?
A familiar voice in the hallway outside the kitchen groused, "It's bad enough to take a cold bath in a bucket, but how can you stand that soap? I wouldn't even wash my floors with it! No lather." Milo came into the kitchen, carrying his clothes, a towel around his neck.
At this the man at the stove laughed, and Mu realized that the man at Aldebaraan's was – Aldebaraan.
And here was Milo, more or less naked in Aldebaraan's kitchen. Had they – ?
Aldebaraan turned, noticed Mu's expression, and said quickly, "Milo went to the soccer game with me. Brazil was playing Greece – "
"You mean Greece was playing Brazil," Milo corrected with a wink. "He," Milo continued, speaking to Mu as he dropped his handful of clothes on a chair and began drying his wet hair with the towel, "was cheering for the wrong team at first, but I straightened him out. After the game we came back here for some beers. I should know better than to match drinks with someone twice my size." He added mischievously, "I fell asleep on the couch. Guess I can't cross The Bull off my list yet."
So, they hadn't slept together? Mu felt relieved.
Aldebaraan laughed. "Oh ho, did I made the list at last? Or are you scraping the dregs of the barrel?"
Milo snapped his towel, smacking the Brazilian soundly on the ass. "Never! Now, remember what I told you, Mighty Oak."
Aldebaraan turned back to the camp stove and muttered, "Yes, yes. Perhaps."
"You know I'm right." Milo said and, strolling past Mu to the doorway, added, "I know you'll think of someone."
It wasn't clear who this remark was addressed to. Mu half-turned to look at Milo, and then glanced back over his shoulder at Aldebaraan, catching him unawares.
Aldebaraan's face was full of longing. And it wasn't directed at Milo. "C-coffee?" he stammered, hefting the demitasse he had in his hand.
"Yes, please," Mu said, taking a step forward. This expression of Aldebaraan's – he had seen it so often, why had he never recognized it for what it was?
"You never took coffee before," Aldebaraan said, surprised.
"I decided just now that I should try it," Mu said, "because I think perhaps I will like it very much." He took the cup from the stunned Taurus Saint.
Milo watched this exchange paternally, muttered, "About damn time," then tossed the towel across the room and onto the kitchen chair. "So Mu," he asked as he stretched and yawned, catlike, "what time does Shaka start his morning meditation hour?" He fluffed the hair that was not on his head with his fingertips.
"About now," Mu replied absently. A strange sensation, to have so many things fall into place at once. Someone he enjoyed being with, who he wouldn't mind waking up next to. He wondered if Aldebaraan liked to be touched in any of the ways Milo did. Well, he would have to apply Milo's First Principle and pay attention to what Aldebaraan did to him. The thought was ... intriguing.
Milo nodded, pleased to be half-ignored. "Thanks. Well, see you later, then." Still nude, he turned and sauntered out toward the stairs that led up to Gemini.
"Oi, Milo," Aldebaraan shouted after him, "you forgot your clothes. Aren't you going to get dressed before you go visiting Virgo Temple?"
"You know, I think I'll wear just a smile," Milo called back, tossing his blue-violet hair in the warm golden morning. "I've done some of my best work that way."
Mu and Aldebaraan watched him as he jauntily ascended the stairs. "That man," Aldebaraan said, "has a fine backside."
"Yes, he does," Mu agreed, leaning against his friend just a little.
A moment later Aldebaraan's arm draped tentatively across Mu's shoulder, but Mu didn't mind at all.
He felt quite at home.
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The End
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