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Dinner looks amazing, and David sighs in delight.

"I'm so tired of take out," he says and smiles as he loads his plate. And if his feet nudge Balthier's under the table, he's not going to apologize. This was so nice. "You're spoiling me and I'm grateful."

“You’re fun to spoil,” Balthier points out, and his hand goes to David’s thigh while the other’s foot nudges his. They’ve done this a hundred times and yet it’s still so wonderful. “We should have leftovers, too.” Good food and no work.

Was he? Well, he likes that.

"I don't have work tomorrow. Any chance I can just stay home with you and recover before we start emergency planning?"

“A fair chance,” Balthier grins before finding David’s hand to squeeze. “I would like that quite a lot.” Take space and time for them, force the world to wait a minute.

“Any requests, or just laze about?” They hadn’t done that in awhile.

Oh man, that's a really good question.

"Laze. Though maybe a nice soothing bath," he says with a smile. "My hotel room had a space that wasn't suited to it."

“Mm we can certainly accommodate that,” Balthier assures him. And he’ll happily make tea and snacks, and maybe convince David into a massage. “Always more relaxing at home.”

And yes, he’s going to abuse that word for awhile yet.

“The weather should be nice tomorrow. We can go up on the roof too.”

Tea, snacks, a hot bath, and a beautiful man.

"Oh yes, this is the most comfortable home I've had. Thank you."

But he loves the idea of the roof.

"Will we be safe up there? I'm just worried about the Alliance."

That pronouncement makes his chest warm, even as he feels himself shrinking slightly from the cruel voice telling him that’s an expectation he can only disappoint.

No, he isn’t letting that voice in today.

“Good. I want you comfortable and cared for,” he says instead. “I want this to be a place you’re happy to return to — your port, too.” They both needed it.

He gives real thought to the roof concern but slowly shakes his head. “I have a general illusion on it, but others use their roofs, and the Society isn’t going to take kindly to interference with any of its members. Besides, this place is mine, not guild. I think we are just as safe up there as using the front door.”

His port too. Yeah, he can accept that. Now if only Excelsior in general was safe for them.

"Alright then. I would love to spend some time up there then."

But he would probably insist on the illusion protection.

Balthier laces his hand in David's. "We're going to have a lovely homecoming, and then we'll figure out the rest of this," he says coolly. He didn't know how yet, but he'd be damned if they didn't.

"We're two brilliant, beautiful, and tricky men. Of course we'll figure it out."

David a year ago wouldn’t have been that confident, not in the future and not in their union.

His hand gently turns David’s face to his, but there’s nothing gentle about his kiss. “Even fate ought not be fool enough to try to cross us,” he murmurs firmly, and right now, he means it. He has no desire to have to bring down gods again, but he would. He could.

No, he wouldn't have been. David was so much better for coming to know this man.

"Fate can try. Mutants don't really appreciate gods drawing lines for us to walk."

They both are. Balthier couldn’t believe some days how much he’d grown and rooted, how much they both had. That wasn’t something he was going to let go easily, not even around the edges.

“A thing we have in common,” he chuckles warmly. And if they need help, well, he’s been experimenting with what he can bring back from Ivalice. Fran still has their Esper glyph.

These roots were running deeper with each day, each crisis, and each moment of support. Soon they would be deep and spread and help assure they would weather any storm... if they were given a chance.

As for David... he hasn't had the courage to go back home yet. Because to do so would be to step into a time where he had another romance, another life, and he wasn't that man. He felt like he hadn't been that man in years.

"Someday," he says at last, "Will you come home with me? To maybe a different time in my world if I can do that? I would like to get to know my sister."

And the best way to do that, actually, might be to put himself near a younger version of himself in a world where his powers are whole, so that he could reabsorb them. It might even work.

Balthier blinks, staring for a second as his lips part. He hadn’t really expected that David could invite him any closer than having accepted to entwine their lives by moving in, and yet.

He smiles, cradling the other’s face and kissing his head. “I would go anywhere you asked me,” he assures David. “But I would be particularly honored to meet your sister.”

Which also makes his heart catch as he realizes the implication of that. “I…if that’s possible then…maybe you could meet my mother.”

Was that really so much to believe? David doesn't even know it. But he enjoys the affection because it makes him feel alive. So alive.

"After we figure out how to protect the people we love who aren't in this room, yeah. I would like to see if that's possible. I want her to know someone will keep her son safe."

Balthier chuckles, parting enough to get back to his food, but one hand lingering on David's thigh.

"Look at you, not having to be convinced to take a vacation after we do some utterly exhausting world-saving task." He squeezes the other's leg. "I want her to know someone keeps her son's heart safe. He's perfectly capable of taking care of himself you know."

But it's just teasing. He knows David would go to any length for him, should he need it, and that's something that took a long time to believe. He doesn't take it lightly, not when he knows that it isn't just duty. They'd leave holes in each other, if they were gone, and that's terrifying, and it's also so, so indescribably wonderful to be entwined that way.

"Well, I can't very well take a vacation before we do some utterly exhausting world-saving task," he points out teasingly. "Oh, I've been recruited to do some... minor displays of rebellion. Nothing with me there personally, just some anti-Fantasfuck propoganda. And there's a thing with Sephiroth I should brief you about."

Because it's important to keep his boyfriend up to date. And they need to figure out what to do to support Otto of course.

As for the rest, he rubs the back of Balthier's neck.

"Her son's pretty busy keeping my heart safe too. And given it's my third one, that's a pretty lofty task."

"It's a good thing you've moved in, so I can occasionally force you to rest," he teases back, but none of this surprises him. He's always liked that David is so involved in things, and he deeply appreciates being kept abreast of it.

He sighs with pleasure at David's hand though, leaning back into the touch. "Extremely busy. Most demanding charge I've had," he assures David. "Worth every headache."

That earns a loud bark of laughter. Oh he thinks that Balthier will manage to force him to rest quite a bit. And that will be good for him. Very good.

"You joke, but I might well be."

"That you're a headache, or that you're worth it?" Balthier grins back. "Glad you're coming around to reality."

"Yes," he says with a laugh. Wow, Balthier, way to own him though. And he is very happy to accept it too.

"Stay here, I need to go write down the date and time that you agreed with me on this," he laughs, but he's kissing him again.

"Are we talking business and me scoffing at questionable decisions tonight, or are we going to leave that for after your welcome?"

Wow. Wow

"After my welcome," David answers. "Please let's leave more business until later."

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