#outside of the uh. leaked rom anyways

[caramel-mousse]

WHAT DO YOU MEAN PEOPLES ALREADY BEATEN SCARLET AND VIOLET?

[storytimefromthecreed]

A Happy Ending with Shaun and Clay

    When Rebecca had told him that both Desmond and Clay were able to safely leave the Animus, Shaun felt like he wasn’t hearing her correctly. Not that he couldn’t understand the words she was saying, but that she sounded far away and his ears were filled with cotton balls. Rebecca waited for him to react, to do something, so Shaun did what he was good at. As if automatically, he walked back to his work station and went back to work.

    Rebecca watched him a while longer before leaving him alone. It was only then that his feelings leaked through his eyes, and Shaun began to cry. After all this time, Clay could come home. This wasn’t a thought Shaun even entertained anymore. So, what to do now?

    Shaun stayed behind his computer screen for the remainder of the day. The screen was blank, left on his last work. Truthfully, he was pretending to keep his mind busy when really it was running havoc. After all that time in that machine, Clay couldn’t be the same man he was before. How had time altered him? Would he still be the person who believed in the Assassins? Or would be have no opinion on the war? Was rocky road still his favorite flavor of ice cream? Did he still hate rom-coms, but love soap operas? Shaun’s lip was raw from chewing, a habit he thought he’d long overcome. It seemed a lot from the past was resurfacing. 

    Rebecca leaned against the doorframe, her eyes were on the front door oppisite to them but Shaun knew she was watching him. Trying to read him. Searching for a reaction. A negative one, and she would step between them and end the meeting. A positive one, and she was pretend, as she was doing now, that she wasn’t there. 

    Time to be an Assassin, Shaun told himself. Time to be brave. He closed his screen, his back aching from hunching, and he strode over to stand with her. “They’re going to keep us waiting, aren’t they?” Shaun scoffed, his tone uninterested and annoyed.

    Rebecca’s body was tense, coiled for attack, rendering her relaxed pose against the doorframe useless. “They’ve been in there for a while, Shaun, we can wait a few more minutes.” No, they couldn’t. Shaun thought this, but kept his mouth shut in a tight line. His teeth has chewed his lips to a painful point, so now he just used them to clamp his mouth shut. His eyes strained at the door, waiting for it to move.

    When it did, almost an hour later, William and Desmond entered first. William held Desmond securely, gently leading him inside. Desmond was shakey and weak when he sat down on the sofa, but he lolled his head to the side and gave them a warm smile. “Are you guys going to say hi, or what? I was in a coma, you know? I probably missed a lot.” William walked out the door.

    Rebecca headed over to him and gave him a quick hug. Shaun knew she wanted nothing more than to hug him and ensure he was really there, really safe, but he was frail even to him; so Rebecca did a manual inspection whilst jabbing him. “All that time in a coma didn’t do anything for your humor, you’re still not funny. How about you save that energy for getting better?”

    “If I get better, then what will you guys do?” Desmond looked around Rebecca, finding Shaun. “What? Not even a coma will get you to acknowledge me?”

    Shaun knew he was teasing, but it must have looked bad the way he was leaning half way out the room and standing in the shadows, frowning with his arms crossed. “You keep playing that coma card, and Rebecca here will have to send you into another one.” Shaun took one shakey step after another into the room until he was at the sofa. Once there, he rested his hand on the back of it, having found that he was weak in the knees. “Besides, we barely noticed your absence, and I got to use my Assassin training to carry the team through such a hard time.”

    “Shaun!” Rebecca hissed, but Desmond was gasping. Or was that laughter?

    “The team is still standing, so I think you did a great job.” Desmond smiled, weaker now from his fit of hysterics. “Seriously Shaun. Thanks. Needed a good laugh.”

    Shaun nodded curtly, back to eyeing the door when William arrived. Tucked under his arm, was Clay. His cheek bones jut out more, almost appearing to break pale skin as he smiled, and his under eyes were dark and sullen. But his eyes, god! His eyes were lively and bright. Even though he looked different on the outside, Shaun knew he would recall those eyes anywhere. Even after all this time, just looking at him made Shaun’s heart blossom. 

    Rebecca hugged Desmond again, placing herself between Shaun and Clay once more. Clay scanned the room, smiling at the lights, admiring the furniture, grinning at Desmond and Rebecca, until his eyes fell on him. The intensity of the gaze caused Shaun to drop his eyes, and stare at the floor. His chest consticted and tears began to well in his eyes. Shaun wished he was anyway other than where he was right now.

    Was there tension in the room? Or was Shaun imagining it? He was too scared to check. Too scared to acknowledge it. As if doing so would make it real. Make Clay real. Had he not wanted this very event? Hadn’t he cried himself to sleep countless nights for the chance to see Clay again? This was it. This was their chance. And yet, Shaun wouldn’t muster the courage to look his love in the eye.

    A weak rasping at the other side of the room made Shaun look up. No longer noticing the eyes of Desmond, William, and Rebecca; Shaun saw Clay, really saw him. His hair was ruffled and dirty, he was thinner, more boney, than when he went into the Animus, but he had that smirk on his mouth. Clay shook his head, his smirk growing into a grin as he did his own inspection of Shaun.

    “What?” Shaun’s voice was shakey. Clay hobbled over to him, William assisting him. Shaun moved past Rebecca. “Stop, let me. You’ll hurt youself.” He took William’s place and propped Clay up. A spark of electricity jolted him when they touched. Did Clay feel it too? Clay leaned against him, his eyes never leaving Shaun’s. 

    “I’m fine, I just need to rest is all. Then I’ll be back to being an Assassin in no time.” Shaun moved Clay over to the chair besides Desmond, and gently lowered him down.

    “Uh, no, you’re not.” Shaun commented sternly. “Resting is your job right now, we’ll discuss the rest later.”

    “Under one condition.”

    “What?”

    “You’re the one taking care of me.”

    Later that night, in their now joined room, Shaun stared out the window while Clay laid on the bed. Neither one of them had spoken much after dinner. Rebecca went with William to aide Desmond, and Shaun had taken Clay to his room. Afterall, that was what he was supposed to do, right?

    Clay just watched him work all night. He ate a dinner of broth and bread, and quietly watched Shaun work until he feel asleep, which was not like him at all. Or was it? Did Shaun really know him anymore? Was this a Clay to be known?

    “Stop thinking about it so much.” Clay’s voice broke the silence of the night. No louder than a whisper, Shaun figured he was probably sleep talking, a habit his Clay had. “You really do have to think about everything, don’t you? God, why can’t you just be happy this happened.” This time, Shaun knew Clay was speaking to him.

    “You’re supposed to be sleeping.” 

    Clay shrugged. “Nightmares.” Though his tone was teasing, Shaun could see the fear in his eyes. Clay was thoroughly frightened. His experience in the Animus was not like anything Desmond went through, and having not gone into the machine himself, Shaun couldn’t emphasize. “What are you thinking about?”

    Shaun couldn’t help the smile this question brought him. On nights when he couldn’t sleep, Clay would pick his brain. This little hint of the past made him relax, and Shaun turned to face Clay. 

    “I’m thinking about how much has changed since we’ve last seen each other.”

    “Right to the point, Shaun? That’s not very like you.”

    “A lot of things that are like me, might not be what I was like before.” Shaun closed his eyes and sighed. When he was nervous, he had a tendency of using too many words. Trying again, Shaun took a deep breahte and said, “Clay, I might not be the same Shaun you remember all those years ago.”

    Clay paused, and then rolled over to his side, watching Shaun. “Just as I might not be the same Clay you remember.”

    “That’s not-”

    “Oh, I know what you meant, Shaun, and I get it. A lot has happened since we were last together. I took on that mission even after you told me you didn’t trust it, and look what happened. Guess I should’ve listened. But by some miracule, I’m back. I know this might not mean anything, but,” Clay chewed on his bottom lip, a habit he had picked up from Shaun. “When I was in the Animus and it felt like my brain was being thrown all over the world, I was always able to bring myself back together when I thought of you. Just anything. How you are terrible at making coffee and that’s why you drink tea. How you sleep with socks on because you’re a weirdo. How you’ve always been the only other person to be more clever and witty than I am. I missed that the most, our banter. I would replay sceniors in my mind about when we tried moving in together but couldn’t decide on the place, or of our first days being Assassins together.” Clay’s voice had gotten thick and he cleared his throat with a cough. “Guess all I’m saying is, I know a lot of time has passed and you may have fallen out of love with me, but I want you to know that that’s ok. I didn’t want you to wait around for me. My feelings for you have never changed, and I just thought you should know that.”

    Shaun was stunned. Clay finished his speech and shifted uncomfortably under Shaun’s gaze. “You know what? We’re tried. I’m sorry. We can talk about this another time.”

    “You think I don’t love you?” 

    Clay didn’t answer. Instead, he looked at Shaun with tear filled eyes, nodding once. “Shauny, it really is ok. I know it’s been a long time, and I’m a hard person to love-”

    “Clay, you’ve always been a jar head, but tell me you’re not serious.” Shaun moved from the window to the side of the bed. He gently took Clay’s hand and held it securely. “I’ve thought about you every night before I fell asleep. Every mission I went on, I thought, ‘How would Clay handle this? How brave would he be?’ Clay, I’ve never stopped loving you. When I saw you again, I didn’t know how to react. Having thought I could never see the love of my life again to having him in the same room as me gave me whiplash.” Shaun chuckled weakly. Tears brimmed his eyes now, and the tears he had held back streamed down his cheeks and down his chin. “I love you. I’ve always loved you.”

    Clay weakly propped himself up, tears running down his face in a similar fashion. “I love you too.” Clay kissed his forehead, and Shaun kicked off his shoes and got into bed. With Clay resting his head on Shaun’s chest, they talked all night until they lulled into sleep.