We Meet Again
Ronove sighed as he ran his hand over the top of his head. Naturally he’d also forgotten he now had fuzzy ears up there. Getting used to the homunculus was still a work in progress with some areas. At least he’d gotten the movements down enough. He could successfully pass the homunculus off as a living body now.
Of course this fake body had the added benefit of being adjustable. Plus he’d picked to make it look like a viera male. Over his year avoiding the void hunters and taking time to think, he’d done a little research into the races he was less familiar with without his old memories. Viera had seemed to be the best candidate since they seemed to have naturally long life spans. No one would think twice to see a viera that never seemed to age. If this form did fall under suspicion, he could just change it up. Though he would probably ask for Fen’s help with doing so. Just to make sure he didn’t mess it up. This was his first homunculus after all. But at least now he’d be less noticeable to the void hunters.
The toys Stefan had spelled to allow him to hide in hadn’t really been spelled against detection by void hunters. Ronove tucked the toy back into his clothes where he always kept it when he wasn’t using it. Even with the homunculus, he wasn’t leaving the toy behind. He’d grown attached to having the little bat to hide in. It did give him the freedom of flight as well as navigating smaller spaces. Naturally he still had the little cloaked doll back at Ely’s apartment even if he rarely used it now that he had the bat.
Ronove looked up as he began to walk now that the bat was safely tucked away. His footsteps halted as he heard a familiar voice talking to someone. But the voice didn’t come from the face he expected to see. The troupe member he wasn’t familiar with walked off and the viera man turned to face him.
The hair was styled differently. Fluffy viera ears topped their head. But… Ronove recognized those blue eyes that stared back at him as much as he knew that voice. He hadn’t missed that flicker of hurt that passed over the other man’s expression as they looked away from him. It had been roughly a year since they’d last parted ways. Not under the best of terms. Ronove had been angry and hurt. They’d both been hurt. That year suddenly felt like an eternity.
“Elijah…” Ronove frowned as he put his hand on his hip to avoid reaching out to the other man.
“Apologies. I wasn’t intending to run into you. I’ll head the other way. Have a good day, Ronove.” Elijah apologized as he looked anywhere but at Ronove.
Ronove felt like his heart was being squeezed. They’d hurt each other enough. Even if neither had meant to do so. Some of his memories had come back over that long year apart. Not all of them but enough of them. Mistakes were made on both sides. One thing was for certain, Ronove wanted to see if they could keep some part of what they were before. Even if things wouldn’t be entirely the same.
Not giving Elijah a chance to run away, Ronove closed the gap between them and grabbed a hold of Eli’s arm. Eli looked at him in shock as he finally met Ronove’s golden eyes. Ronove pulled Eli close, foreheads nearly touching as he reached a hand up to lightly touch Eli’s cheek.
“I don’t want this. I don’t want you to leave.” Ronove responded thickly as he caressed his fingers against that cheek. “I don’t know if we can be exactly as we were before but I… If you want to try again… I don’t want to lose you again…”
“Ronove…” Eli blinked back tears as he rested his hand against Ronove’s arm that was raised to touch him. “I don’t want to leave either. I’m still so very sorry and I miss you so much. I never meant to hurt you like I did… I don’t deserve this chance…”
“Just tell me you want this…” Ronove whispered as his lips hovered near Eli’s. Waiting for permission. “Just stay with me and we’ll figure out if it meant to be or not. Just… Stay please…”
Eli couldn’t stop the tears that fell down his cheeks as he nodded his head slightly. “I want this too… Even if you deserve more than a ghost in a false body.”
“We both deserve more than fate has handed us.” Ronove gently wiped away the tears on Eli’s cheeks. “But we’re with the troupe now. We’ve got years to figure things out. To find something better for us. Also… Don’t tell me what I deserve. What I deserve is the love of the man I fell for back in Mhach. The man I sacrificed my mortality to try and save. Or at least I deserve that chance to see if we can save something of that love that once was.”
“Ronove…” Eli was about to suggest again what was deserved and wasn’t but instead shut his mouth as he nodded. They could argue forever about what was and wasn’t deserved. But this chance between them wouldn’t exist forever if it was shut down now. It had been a year since they had parted with the understanding that they may or may not be over. Here Ronove was offering him another chance. A chance for things to be different and yet the same between them. A chance to learn who Ronove was now that he was no longer Jesse. “I’d like that…”
“Good.” Ronove smiled softly before closing the small distance between their lips to kiss Elijah tenderly. “Help me remember.”
“Always, my dearly beloved.”