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Six months after another version of himself had turned up on his doorstep, Abolish had begun to settle into a nice rhythm of balancing his work, social life, and now his relationship and helping his boyfriend as well. It was… nice, somehow, even though a year ago he would've been horrified at the very idea of living with another person, especially a man he technically barely knew.
But getting to cuddle up to a very warm man almost every night after work, save for the few he was out of town, and being able to really relax was wonderful. Similar to himself, the other man wasn't too talkative, nor did he usually seem to want to keep Abolish up the whole night. Instead, he gave him a few kisses with a soft goodnight, dragging him under the already warm covers. He was too exhausted to say much after suffering through a three hour long meeting that was supposed to have been just an hour, and his boyfriend seemed to understand, allowing him to close his eyes and drift off after just a few minutes.
At least, he got to relax until there was a noise outside, somewhere in the backyard. Jolting awake, he was halfway out of bed before he realized the other Abolish was awake as well, one hand on the door as its slit pupils zeroed in on him.
"You can stay there, I'll be fine." Abolish was already up and grabbing his phone off his dresser even as it spoke. It rolled its eyes, but didn't protest further, heading down the hall to the back door with him right behind it.
Abolish had a feeling he knew what was going on. There was a similar tension in his gut to when, half a year ago, the man currently standing in front of him had appeared. Only, there was something different about it this time, for reasons that quickly became clear when the door was opened.
Trembling in front of the door and quickly stumbling back, the individual who had appeared was certainly not some version of Abolish. Although it was well aware the various versions of itself out there could look all different kinds of ways based on its current boyfriend, this man - boy? He couldn't have been much older than eighteen, if that - just felt different. No, it realized exactly who this was before anyone even spoke.
"Pyro?" The other Abolish sounded more shocked than he'd ever heard flame, flames amber eyes wide as flame stared at the terrified kid in front of the two of them. Their golden brown eyes flicked back and forth, tightening their grip on the spear in their hands.
"A- Abolish?" he breathed, blinking a few times. It glanced him up and down, taking note of the bronze armor he was wearing, the bright blue feathers coming from his helmet, all a stark contrast to just how small and skinny he was despite his height. "What- Where- You-"
"Come inside," it interrupted, stepping back to allow Pyro to follow it, only to end up resting one hand against the wall as its head spun wildly. Ah. It hadn't quite noticed just how fast its heart was pounding, although it wasn't really sure why. This wasn't his Pyro. That man, barely older than the one he was looking at now, had died a long time ago, and he'd never talked to them much in the first place, anyway.
Somehow, neither of them seemed to notice him stumble, too focused on ushering Pyro inside and to the living room, the door clicking shut and partially snapping Abolish out of his trance. He did his best to swallow down the whirlwind of emotions flooding him and followed the two over to the couch, taking a seat on the other side of his boyfriend.
They were talking quickly to each other in Ancient Greek, leaving it to only catch bits and pieces - not that it wanted to participate in the conversation anyway. For the most part, it seemed to be a discussion of everything that had happened after the other Abolish had disappeared, so it instead leaned against his side and focused its energy on keeping its eyes open.
"-boyfriend?" That word caught its attention, gaze flicking up to see Pyro staring right at it with wide gold eyes. Heat flooded its face while a strong arm slid around its waist, pulling it closer to the man it'd been cuddling up to.
"Yeah, as of… a couple months ago." There was enough pride in his voice to make its face burn even more, ducking its head as it struggled to find anything to say. "He's been helping me… get settled in and everything, this world is, uh- a lot different."
The younger man's eyes swept the room, and Abolish noticed that they'd taken their helmet off at some point, revealing their long dark brown hair, tied back in a very tangled braid. Spotting a couple small sticks and leaves, he made a mental note to help them figure out how to shower here once this conversation was over. "Yeah, I can… tell. Is there some other version of me here as well?"
Abolish's blood ran cold. Both their eyes were on him, probably because he'd been avoiding the subject the entire time his counterpart had been here. How in the world was he meant to explain that? It was easier now that they had a Pyro, at least, instead of him having to completely devastate his boyfriend, because even if it acted like it didn't care about any of the other champions, it was even clearer now that it did.
"He… died," he replied at last, keeping his gaze focused on his lap, away from either of the men next to him. "It was, uh- a long time ago."
"I apologize. I didn't mean to bring up any… memories." Pyro's voice was much softer now, and the other Abolish squeezed his waist slightly. It felt like all his energy had suddenly drained from him and he honestly wanted to pass out right there in his boyfriend's arms.
"You're alright, I was never really that close to him," he said anyway, pushing through the exhaustion weighing down on him. "We didn't… have the chance to talk much. Before it happened. But I can… explain that tomorrow." It glanced up at Pyro, nearly sighing with relief when it saw that they didn't appear mad in the slightest, just staring at it with those shimmering gold eyes and curious little head tilt. "You wanna go take a bath, and I can brush your hair out after? I'll find some clothes for you."
"Oh, uh, that would be wonderful, yes." Pyro shifted a bit, resting one hand on their helmet as the two Abolishes got up. Abolish glanced at his boyfriend and nodded slightly toward the kitchen, the other getting the hint and turning away to get some food. Judging from how thin the poor boy's limbs were and the way his armor awkwardly hung off of him, he didn't seem… healthy, to say the least.
But Abolish wasn't going to comment on it, simply waving for Pyro to follow him as he headed to the bathroom. "You can just leave your armor on the counter here, I'll grab it once you're done and put it… somewhere, clean it up for you. Here, let me show you how to…"
Kneeling down, he gestured at the faucet for the bathtub, trying to fight down a smile as he remembered showing his counterpart this for the first time as well. Pyro watched with their head still tilted as they undid their armor, carefully setting it on the black marble countertops. When he turned on the water, their eyes went wide, shining as they stepped forward and bent over to get a closer look.
"Wow," they breathed, reaching out with a slender hand to touch the water for a split second. "You can just- do that?"
"Mhm." He didn't bother hiding his smile anymore, glancing up and trying not to show his small fangs as he met Pyro's gaze. "Would you rather it be hot or cold?"
"Uh… hot, thank you." The younger man straightened up, returning to taking off his armor, before pausing. His gaze flicked up to Abolish, then away, shifting from clear embarrassment as he mumbled, "I… forgot to mention, I have uh- wings. They're small, but um- Do you have any… bandages, or anything, I could use to keep them down?"
Surprise flickered in its chest at that. Wings? Although it had its suspicions about its own counterpart not being human, there was nothing going on with flame quite as obvious as that. Then its heart jumped as it realized Pyro was bandaging his wings; even if it didn't have wings itself, it'd spent enough time bandaging its chest when it was younger to know that compressing that area was a horrible idea.
"You shouldn't bandage your wings, pressure on your chest is really dangerous." Its smile faded into a frown as it stood up. "I can get you a tank top, or something? So you can have them out. And I'll… get you some of your own clothes tomorrow, cut holes in them for you."
Pyro looked increasingly panicked as it spoke, shifting back and forth and wrapping his arms around himself. He was only wearing a simple white cloth now, all his armor set to the side, which hung off of him in a way that looked concerning to say the least. "I, uh- Well I need bandages for…" He drew in a short breath, jerking his head away. "… multiple reasons. I understand it isn't the healthiest, but it's necessary."
Multiple reasons. Still very much exhausted, it took a solid few seconds for it to click in Abolish's mind what they meant by that. "Oh- You're, uh, fine. I… also used to have that issue, I understand, uh-" The other Abolish was similar, even if he hadn't exactly experienced the same thing, but it wasn't sure if he'd want it mentioning that. "I'm still not letting you bandage your chest. But I can… get something to help with that tomorrow. Would just a shirt be fine for right now?"
"You-" They cut themself off, blinking a few times at him, then cleared their throat and looked back down at the tile floor. "Yes, that would be… alright. Thank you, Abolish."
"I'll, uh, bring you some clothes, one second." Abolish glanced back at the tub to see that it was full enough now, and he leaned down to shut off the faucet before hurrying out of the room. He was sure he had some old shirt he could cut holes in for them, so they wouldn't feel too exposed but wouldn't be damaging their wings, and even though he had no clue how to care for wings he'd still need to check over them.
Remembering that he had another person in the house who knew Pyro a lot better than he did, he poked his head into the kitchen and settled his gaze on his boyfriend. "Abolish? Were you… aware, that Pyro has, uh, wings?"
The other Abolish glanced over from where it'd been watching the microwave, eyebrows arching. "Wings…?"
"I'm assuming no, then." He chewed on his lip for a moment, then asked, "Do you, um, have any idea how to… preen wings, or take care of them? Because I… barely do."
"Not really?" Its head tilted to the side slightly. "But I'm sure I can figure it out. You need some sleep, I'll deal with Pyro."
Before he could point out that he still needed to go drop off their clothes, there were suddenly lips pressing against his own, the other man having crossed the room and tilted his chin up with a hand. He huffed quietly, but didn't have the energy to protest more, his eyes fluttering closed as he melted into the kiss. By the time they broke apart, his boyfriend had taken the clothes from his hands and he felt infinitely more tired.
"Thanks," it sighed, reaching up to place a quick peck on the side of flames mouth. "I'm gonna… head to bed. Wake me if you need anything."
Rolling his eyes, he said, "Yeah, of course. Get some sleep."
It was late in the morning when he awoke, feeling more arms than usual around him, slim fingers with blunt nails digging into his stomach just barely. Not that he minded, of course, shifting a bit and squinting open his eyes, a smile spreading across his face at the sight of the young man clinging onto him from behind.
Then his smile broadened when, blinking a few times, his vision focused enough for him to properly look at the small owl wings splayed out on the bed behind Pyro. Brown, flecked with white, feathers fluffy and looking like the softest things in the entire world. Against its better judgment considering they were still asleep, it lifted an arm and reached around them, running its fingers lightly over their wings; they were just as delicate as they looked, warm against its skin.
"Yeah, soft, aren't they?" It startled a bit, head snapping around at the sound of its boyfriend's voice. A grin spread across his face, and he pressed a kiss to the top of its head. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. I helped preen his wings last night, they were… a bit of a mess."
"I can imagine." Pulling his hand back, he relaxed into the mattress again and snuggled a bit closer to the other Abolish. A low whine left the young man behind him, but glancing back, they didn't seem to be ready to wake up anytime soon, just snuggling closer to him with their wings twitching slightly for a moment.
Neither of them said anything else for a while. Abolish allowed his mind to wander while he waited for Pyro to wake up, not wanting to potentially disturb their very much needed rest by getting out of bed. Work could wait for a while until everyone was awake. He hated to imagine what would happen if he slept in this late every morning, but if he was being entirely honest, getting to relax in a cuddle pile for an hour every morning didn't sound too bad. Although it did make him wonder…
"Is there… a reason you, uh, had him sleep in here?" It settled one hand over Pyro's, running a thumb across his knuckles. "Not that I mind, just wondering."
"I figured he… wouldn't want to be alone," the other man mumbled into its hair. Hearing the embarrassment in flames voice, its heartbeat quickened for a split second. Maybe flame was even more attached to Pyro than it'd thought. "And, uh- They seemed scared. So…"
"Yeah, makes sense." With a deep breath, his eyes fluttered closed again, relaxing into the warmth - only to pop back open when he heard a soft groan behind him, the man in question shifting against his back.
The other Abolish's head lifted almost instantly, the same way, he noted, that flame reacted whenever he woke up in the morning. He had to suppress a laugh as flame hummed, "Good morning, Pyro."
"Morning," the young man sighed against its neck, squeezing its waist a bit tighter. His voice was a bit rougher after sleeping, murmuring right into its ear, and it'd be lying if it said its heart didn't jump right into its throat. It didn't dare to look back at him as he nuzzled his face into the crook of its neck, breathing softly like he was going to fall asleep all over again. The only thought in its head was that he was cute.
Abolish gave a quick glance up at his boyfriend, although flame seemed equally distracted studying Pyro like the most interesting thing in the entire world. He held in a sigh, but it wasn't a particularly upset one, lips quirking into a smile. Being sorta the same person just meant they were both hopeless, huh?