[FRAG] Keep A Secret

The grass crunched under his feet as Magnotris stepped out onto the lawn of the Sanctum. 

The air was crisp - probably a little too crisp. But he breathed it in anyways, feeling it squeeze into the furthest corners of his lungs, the tang burning his throat dry. He closed his eyes for a second, letting the breeze pull at his hair, feeling the adrenaline and tense energy he'd been bottling up all day drain from him. In a quiet motion, Magnotris' shoulders slumped and he opened his eyes once more.

There, across the bridge, was Morning Star.

His arms were flung open and he was running, shouting something that the wind tore from him. Magnotris leaned forwards, his weight practically pulled by a string as he transitioned into a run, feeling his footfalls thud against the ground. He lifted his arms, letting the smile rise on his face in tandem.

Morning Star collided with him, arms snapping around Magnotris' back and squeezing tightly. He swept Morning Star up in his hug, twirling him up in the air, lifting him off the ground. His partner's giggles were buried in his shoulder, marked by the stain of tears, leaking. Magnotris dragged him even closer, wings curling protectively around him, curling with Morning Star as one.

He never wanted to let go.

Yet, Magnotris slowly lowered Morning Star to the ground, although he kept an arm around his shoulders. Neither spoke for a second, still drinking in the other's familiarity, the comfort of his touch, the warmth of his breath. 

"I missed you," Morning Star's voice was fleeting.

"I missed you, too," Magnotris managed.

Roseline kept their distance, watching from the other side of the bridge, hands linked behind their back. Out of respect or fear, Magnotris didn't know - and didn't care, either. All that mattered was that he was with Morning Star again, and they'd finally get a good chance to talk about everything that had happened, and everything that would happen, and everything that could happen. They'd get to catch up and hold each other and let all the rest of the world melt away for a few brief, wonderful hours. 

Morning Star didn't leave his side, settling in against him and letting Magnotris keep an arm around him. "I have a house - uh, our house, I made our house here. By accident, but um, yeah. We can go there-?"

"That sounds nice," Magnotris groaned, "is our bed there?"

"Yeah! Are you tired?"

Magnotris fell into an easy pace, heading across the bridge. Roseline stood by and waited until they were several steps ahead, falling into line behind the couple. "Yeah. I ended up getting more involved in my mission than I thought I'd be."

"What was it?"

"I went with Minty and his crew to recover a special sword. Typical stuff for their division. I was supposed to just be there for, y'know, intimidation. So nobody would think of messing with them, which was fuckin' stupid because nobody messes with Minty anyways."

Morning Star nodded reverently. "That sounds really stressful. Did you guys get the sword?"

"Yeah, you'll never believe who had the damn thing."

"Want me to guess?"

Magnotris let a smile tug at his cheeks. "Yeah, sure. Give it your best shot."

"Um..." Morning Star lifted a hand to his chin for a second, squinting at the clouds above them. "Virant?"

"Nope."

"Oh, I give up then. I don't know anything about those people."

Magnotris snorted. "It wasn't a Shards member."

"Oh, really? Wow."

"It was - get this - Cynosure."

Morning Star nearly fully halted, stumbling. If Magnotris hadn't caught him in time, his face would've met the dirt. "What?" he choked out after a second.

"Are you okay?" Magnotris pressed, eyes flicking over his boyfriend's features. Whoops. Maybe bringing up Cy was a bad idea. He'd just been trying to share about his day, that was all!

Starsdamnit, he wasn't fucking up again already, was he? The last thing he needed was to burn any bridge with Morning Star. They were supposed to be reconnecting and figuring out where they stood, not have Magnotris trip over his feet and plant one firmly in his mouth by bringing up a traumatic memory. Morning Star's eyes were too wide for it to be a mere trip, and he-

"-Yes. I-I'm just surprised he showed up again so quickly, I think."

Magnotris blinked for a second before slowly standing, Morning Star moving with him. Morning Star cuddled back up to him, resting his head on Magnotris' shoulder. Oh. That hadn't been as bad as he thought.

"Sorry if bringing him up upset you," he said, anyways, feeling a sheepish blush rise to his face. 

"Oh, nono, you're fine." Morning Star scuffed a foot on the ground. "I'm not, like, scared of him or anything."

"Yeah... about that."

"Hm?"

Magnotris paused to shoot a levelled glare over his shoulder at Roseline. The other Frag paused, staring back with wide eyes. Dully, Magnotris waved a hand. It took a few more dismissive gestures until, finally, Roseline backed up far enough away. They weren't quite at the house yet, but it was just over the next bridge, and there was no one in sight. He couldn't taste any magic, either. 

He turned back to Morning Star, whose expression had scrunched in confusion. Magnotris stared into his eyes, affection warming up his face again. He knew better than to let himself get distracted, but it was impossibly hard not to lose himself in those gorgeous crescent eyes.

"Magnotris?" came his partner's voice, soft, soothing.

Soothing, to him. But was there something underneath? A reason to doubt Morning Star? Was he hiding something insidious and violent underneath even his deepest layer?

No. Don't speculate. Communicate. He took Morning Star's hands in his own, thumbing gently over his smooth fur.

Magnotris sighed, glancing to the side. He couldn't quite face Morning Star. "When Cynosure was captured by Minty's team, I was with them. He recognized me and instantly panicked. He was asking if you were with me."

Morning Star squeezed his hands.

"He was panicked, worried, like... I don't know. I've never seen him that way before. He kept asking if you had Sterling. He handed over the sword when I threatened to bring Sterling." Magnotris' voice trailed off. What else was there to say? Should he ask the direct question, or was the implication enough?

The silence stretched on.

Maybe Morning Star didn't know anything. Maybe Cy was just panicked about the Junkyard incident. That was a totally real possibility that Magnotris had completely ignored. What did it say about him, to have such little faith in his partner? Ugh, he was second-guessing himself so much. He hated the feelings of helpless uncertainty that always accompanied-

"-I think I have a lot to tell you," Morning Star finally spoke.

Magnotris lifted his head.

"But let's go inside first," Morning Star prompted. He wasn't looking at Magnotris. He was staring at their house.

It was, indeed, a perfect replica. Even the notches and cracks in the doorway, from all the times Magnotris had kicked it open, were intact and old. The entire structure seemed ancient, sagging slightly under the bright Sanctum sunset, even though it hadn't existed for longer than half a day yet. In the end, though, the familiarity was welcomed, and Magnotris didn't protest as Morning Star unlocked the door and ushered all three inside.

"Uh... I'll wait down here," Roseline managed, sitting on the couch in the living room. "Watch the windows or somethin."

Morning Star gave them a polite nod and headed for the staircase. Magnotris followed. His heart was buried in his throat, mind racing with a thousand questions for Morning Star. That was not the answer he'd been expecting. At all. But was it the answer he'd wanted?

The bed creaked as Morning Star sat on it, the mattress pooling under his weight. Magnotris found a comfortable chair and pulled it up, settling into it across from Morning Star. Silence echoed, neither looking at each other for a second, Morning Star fiddling with his thumbs, Magnotris' hands folded in his lap.

"Back in the Junkyard," Morning Star's voice was quiet, "I did hurt Cy. Not myself, no. But..." he swallowed. "I just - can I start from the start?"

"Of course," Magnotris tried to make himself sound as reassuring as possible.

Morning Star took a stilling breath. "Right. Okay. Cy was kind of the breaking point but I think it had all been adding up to that point. He was just the catalyst for... a lot of feelings that I think had been building. I just, basically got really, really fed up with the Coalition and - the way it was heading, I guess. And Cy was the match to gasoline, I think. Um... basically, he like, purposefully induced Corruption in another Fragment to get an excuse to talk to me.

"And I got really... tired of like, getting hurt, and people using violence in my name. So I just snapped. Sterling was with me, and I just... I thought Cy wouldn't get his lesson learned if I just turned him in to the Coalition. So I... I told Sterling to...."

His voice cracked, and Magnotris leaned forwards to put a comforting hand on his knee. Morning Star rested one of his own on top.

"I know it was bad of me," he choked out, "but after that it all just kept snowballing. I got all tense about the Overseers, and we had to go to that dinner right after and it just made me feel worse because everyone was bringing up that Corruption - the whole Corruption that had been, like, done just so Cy could meet me. And I hit Cupid, and then I realized I didn't care if I was hurting people or not. And I got the idea to- to take over the Coalition. To, like, kill the Overseers and take over.

"And, like, in retrospect," it was all spilling out now, "it was a dumb idea, but I thought I had a plan, like, a relatively good one, at the time. I had Sterling with me, and he told me about his past and how the Overseers mistreated him, and that kind of sealed the deal? And then I went and got a gun from Pretty to defend myself, and we accidentally met up with Sundae and - well you know the rest. You were there. I almost killed Jubilee, but Pyatiugolnik interfered and Blessed me instead."

Spiel over, Morning Star hung his head, sniffling slightly in shame. Magnotris kept his hand on the other, rubbing his thumb over his kneecap, pants wrinkling with each motion. He stared past Morning Star, at the wall, as his mind slowly churned and processed everything he'd been told.

"You're not mad at me, are you?" Morning Star's voice was tiny, the smallest Magnotris had ever heard.

He shook his head. "Of course not."

"Okay," he breathed, "That's good."

"I'm just glad you're safe," Magnotris managed after a few seconds, shooting him a comforting smile. "Like, there are a lot of steps there that could've gone wrong. You could've died or been jailed or tortured and... I'm just glad I can sit here and talk to you like normal, y'know?"

Morning Star lunged forwards to wrap Magnotris in a tight hug, "Me too! Me too and I'm just glad you're not upset with me!"

"It's okay," he reassured, rubbing the other's back. "Shh, it's okay, Morning Star. I promise."

"I swear I won't do anything stupid like that without telling you first ever again!" he was nearly bawling into Magnotris' shoulder, "I didn't like it! I didn't like killing people! I didn't like being apathetic!"

"I know. It's okay, sweetie, it's okay."

"That's not who I am!"

"It's not."

Morning Star sniffled, muzzle in his neck. His face was still wet with tears. "I'm sorry, Magnotris."

"It's okay. Don't be... like, you were trying to do the right thing. It's okay."

"Okay...."

Magnotris breathed in slowly. "I mean, obviously, it's a lot to process. If you told the me from yesterday that I'd be listening to Morning Star describe his starsdamned justifications for attempting a coup, I'd laugh in your face. But... it all happened. I was there. I saw it."

He'd seen Morning Star.

With a gun.

Shooting people.

He swallowed. "And it fucked me up a little, not gonna lie. But... I think it'll be okay in the end. I want to make it okay?"

"Me too," Morning Star's reply was almost too quick.

"So it's okay. You don't need to apologize. Let's just focus on the future."

Morning Star slowly sunk into his lap, legs haphazardly strewn over Magnotris'. In silence they sat, Magnotris slowly rubbing his back, letting his fingers glide up and down the fabric, brushing ever-so-slightly against Morning Star's wings. The feathers were messy and out of order, but they were comforting to touch, subtle in their warmth and muted texture.

In the end, Morning Star hadn't killed anyone. All the Overseers were alive, albeit shaken up and slightly injured. In the end, he'd walked out packing a Blessing, an Overseer invitation, and minimal wounds. Morning Star had proved himself in a way Magnotris had never even thought possible.

And, yet, in the end, here they were, curled in each other's arms once more. The solace was almost deafening, dizzyingly overwhelming any other emotion in Magnotris. He couldn't be furious, or depressed, or protective. He had no capacity to feel anything but love for the man curled on his legs in the moment.

"What did you do today?" he finally asked, ears swivelling to catch the familiar tick tick of the grandfather clock in the hallway. How long had he been ruminating? 

Morning Star didn't move, his voice muffled by his position. "Hour Star and Nebulous Star were relocated from our Timeline to the Sanctum for the time being. I went to go talk to them."

Right, he remembered Jubilee talking about it. "How did that go?"

"Uh... really bad."

Magnotris squeezed the other, a silent question of elaboration.

"Neb was okay. But Hour Star was really... anguished about the Timeline, kept saying it was broken. We talked to Profound and he said they couldn't go back because... Shards took it. Rendgen took over the Timeline. I think they got everyone out, not just m-my siblings, but that was still really...."

Magnotris drew him closer. "I get it. That's..." he rubbed Morning Star's shoulder. "It's hard."

"Archise is supposed to be fixing it, I think, but I don't know how quickly he could manage. Do you know anything about like, that stuff? How long it would take to take back a Timeline?"

Magnotris bit his lip. There were a few answers wafting around in his head. He'd never been a part of it directly, of course, but he'd picked up enough secondhand from listening to the Overseers and occasionally when filing paperwork. There were a few Timelines that the Shards had completely overtaken, turning them into hub worlds for their purposes. Sometimes the COR just abandoned them if it became too difficult to get them back. 

But to lose Morning Star's original timeline... well, that'd be out of the question. They couldn't leave that many Fragments out in the dust. Wasn't his...?

"Which is yours, again?" he finally spoke up.

Morning Star's cheeks tinged. "Um, it's AAA-100."

Right. The one riddled with Fragments. There had to at least be fifty living there. Had they relocated all of them, or only Morning Star's siblings? Was everyone safe? Were they willing to drop the entire Timeline? No, they were getting Archise to help out. They were obviously trying to save it - whether out of obligation to Morning Star or out of genuine care for the Frag's home.

Magnotris breathed in slowly. "It depends on how set-in the Shards are. I haven't really dealt with it myself but if they have Archise working on it, the Timeline'll probably be safe pretty soon."

"Okay." Morning Star nodded into his shoulder. "Okay."

Neither spoke for a second. 

"Where do we go from here?" Magnotris asked.

Morning Star finally pulled away from the hug to sit up straight, although he stayed in the other's lap. His eyes were downcast briefly, but he lifted his gaze after a second. "About what?"

"Just... everything. You can't go home right now. I still have that presentation I have to do about the cure. You have... that invite." 

Morning Star nodded. He glanced at the window for a second. The cathedral loomed, a shadow as the sun crawled underneath the floating islands. "Yeah. Yeah... how's the presentation going?"

"I have it all written up and prepared. Just... well," Magnotris set a hand on Morning Star's shoulder, "you've got Mag magic in you now. What if the cure doesn't work anymore? Arco Iris brought me another damn Corrupted Frag and if I can't fix them then I don't - then the Overseers aren't gonna give a shit about a temporary cure."

"Did you ever figure out what it was about my magic that cured them?"

Magnotris shook his head.

Morning Star hummed, rubbing his chin. "It can't hurt to try to inject my magic in them, can it?"

"I don't think so, no. At worst it just does nothing."

"Then we can try that!"

Magnotris smiled, although it was slightly exhausted. "Alright. That sounds workable. What about your Overseer invitation?"

The words almost didn't quite come out of his mouth, stuck for a brief second. He didn't stammer, at least, so thankfully there was no external show of his brief struggle. Magnotris swallowed. He was, apparently, more torn up about everything than he thought he was.

"Right." Morning Star sat up straight, shoulders set. There was a sparkle in his eye that Magnotris didn't recognize, and when he spoke, his voice rang with confidence: "I'm going to accept the invitation."

Magnotris blinked.

Whatever was in his throat compounded, running down his spine as he stared at the other. For a second, he didn't even look like Morning Star - standing too proud, standing too settled, chin held high, meeting his gaze. After a few seconds of silence, Morning Star slightly slumped, expression dipping into confusion.

"Are - are you sure?" he stammered out, tilting his head. "That's a lot of responsibility! And you can get hurt, it's fucking awful! And there are better ways to fix things-"

"-I'm sure," Morning Star cut in, crossing his arms. "I've done a lot of thinking lately. And I have allies and friends, and people listen to me. People like me. I'm willing to put in the effort to m-make a change and make the world better. I can stand up for myself, too."

Magnotris sucked in a breath, leaning back. "What allies?"

"Sterling," Morning Star's reply was quick. "And Neb. And - and Sundae."

"Sundae!?"

"Yes. He helped me - don't you remember?"

Magnotris leaned forwards, "You really think he's your ally? He ABANDONED the Coalition! He ran off and built up this entire other faction! He's as bad as Virant and the Shards!"

"He helped me! He gave me good advice and protected me!"

"I would've protected you if you'd have told me!" 

Morning Star abruptly stood, arms still crossed. He turned his back to Magnotris, although the other could see the way his shoulders shook. Almost instantly, the fight deflated out of him.

"Morning Star, I'm sorry-"

"-I know," he spoke, voice wavering slightly. "But I would like for you t-to take me seriously."

"I am, I swear!"

"You aren't. You can't keep smothering m-me and calling it protection. I was the one w-who staged the coup, and I'll face my actions and f-follow through. So please take me s-seriously and trust me."

Magnotris stared at the back of his head, frustration boiling under a lid. 

Morning Star turned around. There were tears leaking, but his expression was resolute, "You have to promise to take me seriously. I deserve your respect and the s-space to make my own mistakes. And if you can't do that, then I don't think I can be your boyfriend."

"What?" Magnotris' voice cracked. "I'm not trying to smother you! It's just, this is stuff you don't know, you haven't-"

"-Then let me find out!" Morning Star stomped a foot. "I held my own in the coup! I was even BLESSED! By Pyatiugolnik, of all the Magnitude Fragments! I have power and influence now and I'm going to use those to make the world a better place, like I was supposed to! And if you aren't going to help me, then I can't be around you!"

Magnotris stared at him for a few more seconds before hiding his face in his hands. "Okay. Okay. Sorry. I'll take you seriously."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Morning Star finally sat back down lightly on the bed. A hand lifted to wipe his tears on his sleeve, which had finally stilled. He hadn't sobbed once during the entire ordeal. "Thank you."

Magnotris nodded, staring at the floor between his fingers. He couldn't quite breathe.

How had the man he loved changed so much overnight?

"I'm sorry," Morning Star continued after a pause. "But I really don't want - I don't need anyone trying to stop me. It took my entire life to get here and it... it feels like I only woke up recently. Like everything's been a dream before this. But now I'm awake and I want to really just - enjoy being awake for once, and really just take it all in, and do what I think is right. I want to spread my wings. S-So to speak."

Magnotris nodded again. It was all he could manage.

Silence prevailed. Morning Star glanced to the side after a moment. "Can I ask you something?"

Finally, Magnotris sat back up, although he slouched, arms resting on his knees. "Yeah."

"Why did you break up with Cynosure?"

Magnotris blinked, slowly, as the question buried itself in his mind. Even as he was deathly silent, Morning Star politely stared at him. He looked so proper, hands folded in his lap, head slightly tilted to the side, eyes bright in curiosity and honesty. He didn't speak as Magnotris slowly took in a deep breath, trying to let his entire mind and body settle.

He leaned back in his chair. Was he willing to talk about it? Breach the topic? Was Morning Star ready?

"Please?"

Take him seriously.

Magnotris rubbed his face. "We broke up because we had a fight."

"Do you mind if I ask about what?"

"Kind of," he admitted, voice high, hands curled into fists.

Morning Star was quiet.

"But I'll tell you anyways," Magnotris said after a second. His partner nodded encouragingly. "Cynosure was still in Rest & Reformation at the time, so we were coworkers, sort of.

"I think we always kept our relationship on the down-low. Nobody really knew we were dating, and we weren't at all affectionate or anything. We just weren't that kind of people. Like, uh, we met during an illegal fighting match because we both bet on the same winner and were talking about it to each other, to give you an idea. He was just as much of a... dirty cop as I was. Just doin' whatever the fuck he wanted, whenever he wanted. And I liked that about him, and I guess we saw bits of ourselves in each other.

"But... it wasn't... ugh, how do I say this? I don't know. I guess we were bad for each other. I just..." Magnotris rubbed his eyes. "I felt like Cy always brought out the worst parts of me. Like, when we were together, we'd go do stupid reckless shit. We'd go get drunk and get in bar fights, we'd get in arguments with other Frags, just stupid shit. Never where the Coalition could see and my position would be jeopardized, but it was just - most of our relationship. We didn't hang out at work so the only time we spent was doing these stupid, violent things. Sometimes we'd bring Pretty, and he'd bring the weapon of the week and we'd just run around til we found someone to use it on - sometimes it was a mortal, sometimes it was a Fragment.

"And when I mean Cy brought out the worst parts of me, I don't just mean hurting other people. I mean, I hurt people because it felt good, and that's awful. But there was always another... another layer underneath the rest of everything. When Cy and I got into arguments, they were... they weren't just..."

"Magnotris?"

"Let me finish," he insisted. "Whenever we got into arguments they would get - I would - Cy would start goading me on about stuff, insulting me about my position in the argument or whatever I was talking about. And when we got to that point, I would - I would hit him."

Morning Star stared at him, quietly, expression blank.

"Sometimes I'd pin him down and just beat the shit out of him until he cried. And we'd have to sit in the room and wait for him to heal because he couldn't walk into work looking like that. And he'd always goad me about it later. Say I was a tantrum-throwing sadist idiot jerk who was just like the rest of the assholes in the Coalition, getting high off whatever and taking out all my self-hatred on everyone else. And I really believed him, and believing him just made it easier when I got frustrated, and the - the abuse escalated.

"When he'd do something I didn't like, I'd punch him. I'd hit him, slap him, knock him over sometimes. Pretty always thought it was funny, he laughed. And he laughed when Cy made jokes at my expense, too. And my entire life was just revolving around this - this whole mix of pretending to be some good happy assistant in the COR and then going home and beating the shit out of my boyfriend when his insults got too much. And I didn't feel guilty about it until...

"Well, one day Cynosure told me that he had something neat to show me. He took me to this backwater Timeline after work, some dingy thing. I'm not even sure if it was listed in the COR records. And there was a Frag there he'd had tied up, and they were staring at us. At first I thought he wanted me to teach them a lesson, but he told me no, he was showing me something else. He picked up a piece of crystal with a pair of tongs and he shoved it into the Frag's mouth, said he figured out something neat."

Morning Star's hands were nervously fidgeting. "Was that-"

"Corruption. He Corrupted a Fragment right in front of me. And I stared and I watched as they screamed and struggled and bled and their body twisted and broke, and for the first time I didn't enjoy it. There was nothing enjoyable about watching this. But Cy - Cy was grinning, like it was all a big joke. And I just stared and I thought of all the people I'd hurt before and I thought of all their faces contorting like that Fragment's, in pain, and I listened to their screaming, and it just made me feel sick.

"So I told Cy that he was a stupid, selfish cunt for doing this. Of course he threw it right back at me. So we fought. And I pushed him down and I just tore into him, like, I don't even remember. There was blood everywhere. And he was lying on the ground afterwards and I just felt so disgusted with myself. Like who am I to get mad at Cynosure when I just did that to him? So I told him that we were over.

"I don't think he believed me at first. He still kept coming to my house, asking to hang out and stuff. And I ignored him. I never went back to those Timelines that we used to frequent. They just made me feel sick. And I sort of realized that I didn't want to be that person anymore. But it was hard. Every time someone made me upset, I just wanted to punch them again. It was always easy. They'd get scared and listen to me, they'd respect me after that. And it was a lot harder to earn their respect just by talking, and....

"And when I met you, you made it seem so easy. Like maybe some people still laughed at you, but you just stood there and quietly let them finish and then always were just so nice to them. And they respected you for that. People respected you for being nice. And that just, totally blew my mind. Like, you were so nice to me, trying to give me another chance after finding me with those illegal weapons and stuff. You just confiscated them without telling anyone and told me not to do it again. And... I just really wanted to emulate you. Being nice just s-seemed to come to you so naturally, and I just couldn't shake the idea that I was just this horrible abusive monster, and I was so scared to tell you h-how I felt 'cause I was worried that I'd end up hurting you like I did Cy."

Morning Star blinked as Magnotris scrubbed at his tears.

"And n-now you probably just think I'm a monster and you hate me," he finished off, voice cracking again.

Morning Star stood, calmly walked over, and hugged him.

Magnotris choked, wrapping his arms back around the other as the tears flowed.

"No, I don't," he murmured, voice low and comforting. "I don't think you're a monster. You don't do that stuff anymore."

"Yes I do!" he sobbed, "I l-liked it when Opalescent was hurt! I-"

"-Everyone makes mistakes," Morning Star insisted. "Everyone relapses sometimes. But with the way you're speaking I know you regret it. And it's hard to change who you are, especially if you've been that person for a long time. But you haven't hit me. You've never been abusive to me - you've been the exact opposite. You just w-want to take care of me. And that's change, isn't it?"

Magnotris sniffled.

"I still love you. I never stopped, even listening to all that. You've been through a lot, too. We both have, but we have each other. That's what really counts in the end, and we'll support each other forever, in whatever way we can. Does that sound okay?"

"Y-yeah."

"Good." Morning Star gave him another squeeze. "Come on. I'm tired. Are you?"

Magnotris nodded, standing up. Quietly, they shuffled towards the bed, curling up on top of the covers. Magnotris slumped against the mattress, feeling it dip to cup his body. The texture and warmth was so familiar and soft, a reminder of better days, of sweeter days.

"You're not a monster, Magnotris," Morning Star whispered, stroking his cheek. "And you don't have to carry all that weight alone anymore. I'm not just the baby you have to protect. I'm your partner, too. That means I protect and take care of you, too. Okay?"

He nodded. Words weren't quite working right, but that was okay.

"So we'll get through all this together. The both of us. I don't want to leave you. Let's stay together. Okay?"

He nodded again. 

Morning Star hugged him close. "We should sleep. We gotta tell the Overseers tomorrow my decision."

"I'm going to accept, too." Magnotris' voice was small.

"Huh?"

"My invitation. I'll accept it too. They didn't rescind it." he wiped as his tears. "And if we're going to do this together, then we can both do it. As Overseers. And we can really support each other."

Morning Star searched his features for a second before smiling warmly. "Okay. I trust you. Let's do that first thing tomorrow. I think we can make the world a better place."

"I think we can, too."

"I love you so much, Magnotris."

"I love you too, Morning Star."