Will laughs, too. "I wondered if you just went back to work after that. I guess there wasn't much else to do, if you hadn't been recently caught and thrown into a fantasy army."
Honestly, Will's pleased. He didn't want Malcolm to be in danger, and it sounds like he was just fine for the duration.
"Chaos magic was amazing," Will says, with a bit of a far-away smile. "It was holding the entire universe in your hand and knowing that with a poke here or there, you'd change the whole thing. It was plucking the strands of a spider web and feeling that one movement reach out further and further, knowing that eventually it would turn into a raging storm. I liked it a lot, and I barely touched it."
“I was nobody special,” Malcolm remarks, but he doesn’t sound displeased by that. “And everyone still found me annoying, so I guess that’s just me,” he jokes.
But he listens to Will talk about chaos magic in rapt silence.
“I’ve never had any kind of special powers in a breach. It must be hard to go back to just…. being a person after that.”
Will chuckles a bit at hearing Malcolm call himself annoying. He doesn't think so, he finds Malcolm very charming. Other people clearly don't know what they're missing.
But he's soon onto the chaos magic, and he breathes out a happy sigh as Malcolm talks about powers. "I do wish I had more time to see it through. Learning about them and wielding them. But I felt the same way then that I do now. It's all different sets of tools, chosen to accomplish what you want. It's the determination, the cleverness behind them that sees you through."
Will's smiling, still looking a little wistful. "Sure was fun, though. Maybe I'll talk to Iris about it, when I'm being sociable again. She's probably held onto some of that."
“You’re unofficially in the pack, according to Lark, so maybe she’ll teach you,” Malcolm says, finally looking a little contented and at ease. “Let me know when you go. Maybe I’ll come as a wolf. I haven’t wolfed a whole lot since Lark left and I had that fight with Raylan.”
"I'm unofficially in the pack?" Will hadn't heard that before, although he knew not just anyone was allowed to see the process. So hearing that gets a surprised smile out of him. How wonderful. "I'll let you know, we can go see her together. I can take you both out for a run after, maybe."
Will squeezes Malcolm's shoulders a little. "It's a gift, you should use it. And maybe if people see you as a wolf more often, they won't feel as weird about it."
“I like sharing it with you because you were never weird about it,” Malcolm tells him. “When Lark offered… I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t expected to leave you behind and just be with them. I couldn’t do that; I would have never accepted. He told me that pack members’ partners were treated like part of the pack,” he explains.
"Oh," Will replies, with a small raise of the eyebrows. He might've gotten a little too excited too quickly. He looks a little sheepish but still pleased.
"Lark always seemed pretty reasonable to me. Seems like that extends to the whole pack. He did want you to visit, though?" He's assuming, but he can't imagine Lark would change Malcolm like that and not want to see him again.
Malcolm’s expression falters a little. “I don’t know. I… don’t know how. Or where. He didn’t leave, exactly; he disappeared. He just… disappeared suddenly, with no warning. One morning his door was gone,” he explains, his grasp on Will’s flannel tightening a little.
"And he's probably kicking himself about it," Will says, hugging Malcolm closer. "Iris can visit places- I'm sure she can find Lark. You should talk to her about it. And maybe about anything Lark might've taught you. But I'm sure she'd take you to check on him if you asked."
Of course, Will couldn't come, but maybe the trip would help ease some of Malcolm's trepidation.
He’s not sure he does want to go anywhere while Will can’t. What if something happens and he can’t get back? He looks uncertain, then nuzzles his face into the crook of Will’s neck.
“There’s no rush on that,” he decides. “There’s time to think about it first.”
Having Malcolm with him like this feels like he's found something he's been missing his whole life. In this case, perhaps he's been missing it two lives. He lets himself just listen to their breathing for a long moment.
"You take things at the pace you're comfortable with, okay? And I'll be there with you."
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
abrightboy) wrote2030-04-30 04:28 pm
no subject
Honestly, Will's pleased. He didn't want Malcolm to be in danger, and it sounds like he was just fine for the duration.
"Chaos magic was amazing," Will says, with a bit of a far-away smile. "It was holding the entire universe in your hand and knowing that with a poke here or there, you'd change the whole thing. It was plucking the strands of a spider web and feeling that one movement reach out further and further, knowing that eventually it would turn into a raging storm. I liked it a lot, and I barely touched it."
no subject
But he listens to Will talk about chaos magic in rapt silence.
“I’ve never had any kind of special powers in a breach. It must be hard to go back to just…. being a person after that.”
no subject
But he's soon onto the chaos magic, and he breathes out a happy sigh as Malcolm talks about powers. "I do wish I had more time to see it through. Learning about them and wielding them. But I felt the same way then that I do now. It's all different sets of tools, chosen to accomplish what you want. It's the determination, the cleverness behind them that sees you through."
Will's smiling, still looking a little wistful. "Sure was fun, though. Maybe I'll talk to Iris about it, when I'm being sociable again. She's probably held onto some of that."
no subject
no subject
Will squeezes Malcolm's shoulders a little. "It's a gift, you should use it. And maybe if people see you as a wolf more often, they won't feel as weird about it."
no subject
no subject
"Lark always seemed pretty reasonable to me. Seems like that extends to the whole pack. He did want you to visit, though?" He's assuming, but he can't imagine Lark would change Malcolm like that and not want to see him again.
no subject
no subject
Of course, Will couldn't come, but maybe the trip would help ease some of Malcolm's trepidation.
no subject
“There’s no rush on that,” he decides. “There’s time to think about it first.”
no subject
Having Malcolm with him like this feels like he's found something he's been missing his whole life. In this case, perhaps he's been missing it two lives. He lets himself just listen to their breathing for a long moment.
"You take things at the pace you're comfortable with, okay? And I'll be there with you."
no subject
“I love you. I want to tell you every day.”