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It never failed to amaze Grand when he saw Echo move. Certainly, they were impressive when they practiced strikes with their students: fluidly dodging incoming blows, demonstrating proper techniques, and pulling their punches as they tapped their students' unguarded areas. But it was more than that, too. It was the way they hooked an arm around one student's shoulders and pulled her in for a brief tousling of hair. It was the way their muscles worked when they reached for a towel and a bottle of water. It was the way their throat worked as they took a drink.
Grand Magnificent could sculpt, carve, print, and build thousands of different statues in pursuit of capturing Echo's essence, but he knew he would always fall short. Nothing could quite compare to seeing them in action.
Echo's eyes crinkled at the corners when they caught sight of Grand haunting the rear of their dojo. They raised one hand in a beckoning motion and called, "Hey, Mag, come meet my students!"
Having been called out in such a way, he could think of no way to wiggle out of meeting the youngsters. He sauntered over, and Echo snagged one of Grand's hands as soon he was in reach. "Grand Magnificent, this is Impulse Lariat and Lyric's Change! Impulse and Change, this is Grand Magnificent!"
Recognition dawned on Change's face. "Oh, like the Excerpt of Arbit?"
Grand snorted. "Yeah, something like that." At the reminder of his position, he felt a vague pang of something not unlike homesickness. Except it was less a longing and more the tugging of obligation. He pushed it away, though. He'd been looking forward to this visit for a while. His nascent paranoia would not ruin it.
"Well, I've got to get going," Echo told their students. "Can't keep my guest waiting!"
Impulse and Change sketched out quick bows before heading back to the locker rooms to change and grab their things. Echo just looked up at Grand and grinned. Being in the dojo, teaching, going through the motions of their martial arts style… all of it seemed to energize Echo in a way that Grand had never seen in their calls with each other.
He wanted to see it more.
He would see it more.
"You going to change, too?" Grand asked.
"No, I figured I'd just make you hold onto me while I'm all sweaty and stinky on my bike," Echo teased. "C'mon, I've got a private changing room off my office." They tugged Grand towards a door in the back corner of the dojo. With their free hand, they opened it and dragged Grand inside with them.
Echo didn't wait for the door to close before shucking off their shirt and tossing it at Grand, who failed utterly to catch it out of the air and took it to his face. He sputtered for a moment as he took the offending garment and set it on the nearest flat surface while Echo chuckled.
"Give me just a minute. I've got to wash off," they said.
"Right," Grand said as Echo disappeared into their personal changing room. The sound of a shower running drowned out any possibility of conversation, but Echo was as efficient as ever. They emerged a few minutes later with damp hair and a clean outfit. It was a simple ensemble, but Grand couldn't help but notice how well it suited them.
Rather than vocalize this, Grand just cleared his throat. "So… Uh. Things going good here?"
Echo nodded, a smile on their lips. "Yeah. S'good here. Some of my students are a pain in the ass, but that's normal. Otherwise, it's pretty calm. Exploring stitches takes up a bunch of my time, too. How about you? It's been a minute since we talked."
Grand winced. "Yeah, sorry. I've just been busy with… you know." Somehow, it felt like invoking Arbit's name here was forbidden. Like Arbit's specter would ruin the moment.
Again, Echo nodded. "I get it. Mister Important Excerpt doesn't have time for the little people who helped him get there along the way," they said with a wink.
"Hey! I don't think anyone's 'the little people,'" Grand objected. "You saved my life. Twice. It's kind of hard to forget about that."
Echo playfully bumped his arm with their shoulder. "I'm just kidding. I know you've got a lot on your plate, and I'm glad you're here."
"I'm glad I'm here, too."
*
So much had changed since Grand had seen Echo last: they'd chosen to grow out their hair, their muscles were a little more defined. They had a sleek-looking motorcycle. Echo handed him a spare helmet before putting on their own and slinging one leg over it. Grand followed suit.
"This is new," Grand remarked as he adjusted the helmet he'd been given.
"I let Tender talk me into buying a bike, and I've been digging it. You ever ridden before?" Echo asked.
"No," Grand said with a shake of his head.
They laughed, and Grand was certain that, if he could see their face, there would be a mischievous twinkle in their eye. "Well, just hold on tight and I'll take it slow."
"Right," he said, leaning forward and loosely circling Echo's chest with his arms.
"You're gonna need to hold on tighter than that, " Echo chided; their grin was evident in their voice. "I'm not gonna bite."
Butterflies flitted about in Grand's stomach before he nodded and pressed his chest flush against Echo's back. He wasn't a fucking teenager, and yet… He tightened his grip around Echo's chest.
The bike rumbled to life beneath them as Echo nudged the kickstand up with the heel of their shoe. "You ready?"
"Ready," Grand said.
Echo did not take it slow. Or maybe their idea of 'slow' was in relation to the speed of light. The bike devoured the distance between Echo's dojo and their home in what felt like an instant, during which Grand clung to Echo for dear life. Maybe the scenery on the way to their destination was beautiful, but Grand had spent too much of the trip with his eyes screwed shut to appreciate it.
When they rolled to a halt, Grand reluctantly opened one eye, then the other. Echo was shaking in his grasp, and for a moment Grand had a panicked thought that something had gone wrong. But the moment passed. Echo was laughing.
"Oh my god, Mag," they managed between wheezes. "I hate to break it to you, but you're gonna have to get used to my bike if you want to go anywhere with me while you're here."
Grand swallowed hard but didn't respond. Instead, he directed his effort towards releasing Echo from his vise-like grip and dismounting the bike. His legs absolutely were not shaking.
Echo pulled their helmet off to reveal that they were grinning. "What do you think of the new place?"
It was, in a word, serviceable. The exterior didn't give too much away about how Echo's tastes had evolved over time, but it was a decently designed building with smooth lines and some curves that were vaguely reminiscent of the Ancient Art Nouveau Revival style that had been popular some years ago. It stood one story tall and, unless the rear of the place were much larger, had a modest footprint. Plenty of room for Echo living alone.
"It's nice," Grand said. The part of him that had once fancied himself an architect had plenty to say about it, for sure, but that wasn't the point. The point was that Echo was happy, and it wasn't a terrible house from the outside. That was enough to keep his mouth shut.
His words satisfied Echo, and they grabbed him by the arm. "Just wait 'til you see the inside."
"Are we not going inside now?" Grand asked, a little taken aback.
"And skip out on showing you what's around back? Nah, not yet." They tugged him gently towards a stone-lined path that led around the side of the house, and he drifted along behind them with his borrowed helmet in one hand.
The front of the house may have been plain by most standards, but the rear of the house was not. Echo had gone out of their way to cultivate a beautiful green space lined with several different kinds of greenery that were in various stages of bloom.
It wasn't a huge space, but it was large enough for an area clearly meant for Echo to stretch and run through drills in the mornings (as evidenced by a small array of martial arts ephemera Grand couldn't hope to know the names for). There was also a small hot tub that had been artfully disguised as a pond with the judicious placement of rocks and plants.
He was hardly a landscape expert, but even he could appreciate the work that had clearly gone into making the space both useful and beautiful.
"Well?" Echo prompted, their attention fully on Grand.
"Whoever you got to do this did a great job," said Grand. He nodded in the direction of the hot tub. "I almost didn't realize what that was at first."
"It was a family effort," Echo said. "I mean, we got some help from other people in the community, too, but mostly it was me and my siblings. It was Ballad's idea to hide the hot tub, though."
"Have many hot tub parties?" Grand joked.
"You'd be surprised at the number of hot tub parties I've had," Echo said mock-solemnly. Then, in a lighter tone, "Nah, I mostly just use it for when I'm really sore after a long day. It's pretty nice. I'm glad I let my sister talk me into it."
"I'll only be surprised if the number of parties you've had isn't exactly 'one,'" Grand replied, half-teasing. A part of him wondered what a Reverie-thrown party might look like. Certainly nothing like any of the parties he'd ever been to.
Echo just shrugged, but they were smiling. They bumped his arm with their shoulder again. "Well, now I'm not going to say. Anyway, now we can go inside."
*
Echo hung their helmet on a hook by the door and gestured for Grand to do the same before taking him on a tour of the place. The interior of Echo's home was nice and reflected the aesthetics of the exterior fairly well, but the thing that caught Grand's attention most was the kitchen. It was huge and had a well-appointed island that doubled as a breakfast bar, an old-school gas range, a fine stove, and lots of space for food prep. Grand let out a low whistle.
"I know, right?" Echo responded, sounding so much like a giddy kid showing off their favorite toys. "It's great. I don't get to use it as much as I want, but when I do get to use it, it's awesome."
"I didn't realize you cooked that much," Grand said. He knew Echo could cook; they'd done a lot to make the food they'd eaten when camping out on Quire edible. It just hadn't occurred to him that they liked it.
"Not as much as I'd like, what with running the dojo and all," Echo said, "but man, I'm excited to use it while you're here."
Echo's words sparked a bit of heat in Grand's cheeks. Of course they'd be eating together during Grand's visit, but the concept of eating Echo's cooking—of Echo cooking for him —was something else entirely.
"Speaking of which," Echo continued, thankfully ignoring the flush on Grand's face, "I'd probably better start on dinner. Keep me company?"
"Well, yeah, that's why I'm here," Grand said.
Meal preparation took the form of turning a steak from some local fauna into cubes of an appropriate size to chew. Echo's hands worked carefully with the sharp knife; Grand was certain they could've cut the meat faster, but a part of them seemed to just be relishing the moment. They made a few comments about the dish to come, but for the most part they let a semi-comfortable silence hang between them.
It took every ounce of willpower to keep his hands from fidgeting with something while he watched Echo work. His palms itched. He'd spent so long with Arbit, with constantly making adjustments and changes, that he had to clench his fists until his knuckles were white to keep them from finding something—anything—to do.
Echo's chopping motions slowed to a stop, and they favored Grand with a thoughtful sort of look. "You okay there, Mag?"
"I'm—" Grand stopped. His knee jerk reaction was to brush it off, but even if he wanted to, he wasn't sure he could successfully lie to Echo. Instead, he changed directions. "I'm just wondering if you need help."
Whether or not Echo could hear Arbit's siren call to work, they nodded. "Yeah, sure. I could use some thinly sliced cabbage."
Grand didn't hesitate to get the cabbage out of the fridge and rummage around for another cutting board and knife. Echo paused to watch him bumble around for a moment before gently pointing out where he'd find what he needed.
As Grand's hands worked with the knife and the cabbage, Echo favored him with a look that he couldn't quite read. Finally, they set their own knife aside. "What's wrong?"
He swallowed. What was wrong? He was on a much-needed vacation, standing in the kitchen of one of the people he cared about most. They were going to have dinner together. Maybe later, they'd take advantage of the luxurious-looking pool in the back to relax. By all rights, he shouldn't have a care in the world.
But that was the rub, wasn't it? He wasn't just Grand Magnificent, he was also 'Peace Returned to the Valley, The Rivers Flowed Clear and Blue, The Mountains Resplendent, Grand. Magnificent Light Shone on the Diligent and the Penitent Alike,' and he was away from his creation for the first time.
"I…" Grand hurried to gather his scattered emotions into something he could articulate. "It's like holding onto something for so long you have a hard time letting go of it. I've been working on Arbit non-stop. It feels wrong not to be doing something."
Echo snorted. "Does that mean I get to have you as my manservant while you're here?"
"That's not what I meant," Grand protested.
"I know, I know. I just…" It was Echo's turn to trail off for a moment. When they continued, their expression was sober. "It's been a while. After Moonlock, I realized how important to me you were. If this is making you miserable…"
"No!" Grand yelped. "No, it's not! I want to be here! I just… It's hard to turn off, you know? When the whole system depends on a giant bucket of bolts I made…" He trailed off again.
"It's kind of a lot," Echo said.
"Yeah."
"Well, right now dinner depends on a bunch of cabbage you need to finish chopping," Echo replied in a half-joking tone. "The whole system will be okay if you take it easy for a couple of weeks, but I'll be sad if you spend your whole time here not being here."
Grand sighed. "You're right. I don't get away often and I don't get to see you much anymore." Or at all, really, beyond periodic video calls. Fuck, Grand sucked at this. "Sorry," he muttered.
Echo looked like they were about to reach out to Grand, then stopped, likely remembering the meat residue on their hands. Instead, they said, "Don't be sorry, just be here." Then, they tilted their head up and planted a kiss on Grand's cheek.
Heat rose to Grand's cheeks and he ducked his head. "Yeah. I'm… I'm here. I'll be here for a few weeks. Just… let me know if you need anything."
Bumping him with their shoulder in lieu of using their hands, Echo grinned. "Oh, don't worry, I'm sure I can think of something for you to do."
Grand's flush grew deeper, and Echo cackled.
"Oh, come on Mag," they teased as they picked up their knife and resumed cubing the meat for their dish. "Loosen up."
After a moment, Grand nodded and resumed chopping the cabbage. The two of them lapsed into companionable banter until the meal prep had been done and Echo made Grand set the table while they cooked.
The food was delicious and the company was even better. They caught up, they reminisced, and for the first time in a while, Grand didn't worry about the inner workings of any very large machines.