ShadowDancer's Room

[Dameon Black]

Red Gypsy

Amir
Amir smiled and tightened his grasp on Dancer. "I'm glad to hear that you support my plan," he said. "I've never had anyone tell me that I can be exactly what I want to be instead of what I was raised to be. I was raised to be what my parents wanted me to be and discouraged from pursuing what I wanted. I was always annoyed about it, but I never tried to change anything. I just went through with what they wanted and rebelled in my own little ways."

He listened to what else Dancer had to say and found himself nodding. "You're right, of course. While I don't love fighting, I can take pride in the skills I gained through my training. I can use those skills to protect the ones that matter to me. I may not like inflicting pain in most situations, but I can do it if necessary."

He placed another kiss on Dancer's forehead. "Thank you for giving me the courage to finally decide that I'm going to choose my path. I don't know how my parents will feel about it, but I'm going to tell my father that I want to pursue a life as a healer. I'm going to tell him that I want to stay here so that I can do it. I just hope that you can deal with being stuck with me longer. You'll need me for a while longer, and I think that I'll need your help to get started."

He grinned a bit when he heard Dancer's teasing comment that he couldn't wait until their next healing session. "I'm looking forward to it, too. I held off on using a lot of the stuff in the playroom this time to ease you back into things. I'm excited to see what I can do to you with the other things I saved for the future." He was genuinely excited to see exactly what the future held for them, especially when it came to the playroom. He was a bit nervous about dealing with the real and confusing feelings he was developing for Dancer, but the other male had him looking forward to seeing where things went.

 

[Red Gypsy]

Dameon Black

Dancer tightened his arm over Amir's waist and rubbed his cheek against his chest briefly, unable to resist smiling, "I think things will go fine with your family as long as you don't back down. They can hit you below the belt, you know. They really know how to push the buttons to make you feel guilty and to bring you to heel. They put those buttons there to begin with, after all," he whispered softly.

For some reason, he'd been ready to sleep only moments before but couldn't now. He guessed that he had to say something and simply plunged on with it.

"You should have heard my dad when I told him what I was going to do. He threatened to lock me in my room for life. Then he threatened to go to Sebastet and have my powers blocked. Then he threatened to have them burned out entirely.

"After that, my father got into it. It took me weeks, then decades to convince them. It took a nasty incident to change their minds. I hope you don't have to go through all that. I hope that just standing up for yourself gives you the support you deserve," he paused there and sat up on his elbow again to look into his eyes with a small smile.

"No matter what... You'll be welcome here for as long as you want to stay," he added and leaned in to give him a light teasing kiss to his lips. He didn't know why he did it, just knew that he wanted to kiss him so he did it. After that, he settled back down with his cheek against Amir's chest and closed his eyes, "But we need sleep before you can heal me any more," he said softly, knowing that Amir needed the sleep, at the very least. Besides, if he stayed awake for much longer, he knew he was going to try for something more intimate than a kiss...  

[Dameon Black Alt]

Red Gypsy

Amir
Amir thought carefully about what Dancer said to him. He knew that Dancer was right, though he was a bit concerned about what buttons his family would try to push to make him feel guilty and bring him to heel. There were a lot of things that his family could use against him. He hoped that he would be lucky enough that his family would let him do what he wanted after he stood up for himself. He hoped that it would be that easy.

He listened carefully to Dancer's story about his dad's response to finding out what Dancer wanted to do. He hoped that his father wouldn't threaten him with something similar when he told him that he wanted to be a healer. He was terrified to lose his magic for a lot of reasons, but the biggest was that he knew that losing his magic would permanently end his dream of being a healer.

He returned Dancer's kiss and smiled as the other male told him that he would be welcome here as long as he wanted to stay. "Thank you, Dancer," he said. "I hope that I don't do anything to make you regret that promise." He shifted a bit to make sure that they would both be comfortable. "You're right. We do need to sleep. There'll be plenty of time for healing and playtime tomorrow." He closed his eyes a bit as he tried to be responsible and go to sleep, though it would be impossible for him to resist if Dancer decided that he wanted to try for more than a kiss.

 

[Red Gypsy]

Dameon Black Alt

For the first time in his life, Dancer was actually virtuous. Meaning that he fell asleep before he could do anything. So they both actually managed to get some sleep. Dancer woke up first and found himself with Amir spooning him and had to grin over it.

But, again, he behaved himself and got out of bed first, easing himself out so that he didn't wake up Amir. He stretched and found that he was moving easier, though he was still getting twinges in a few places. He wasn't fully healed yet, but it wouldn't take more than two more sessions to fix that, he thought. Maybe three. Still, he was better now that he'd been in two years...

He moved into the living room and found the breakfast trays but passed those up to head back for his hairbrush. Even though he hadn't braided it, it was only a miracle that they hadn't woken up tangled in it. So that was what Amir woke up to: Dancer brushing and braiding his hair.

He turned when he heard Amir making a sound and smiled as he moved over to give him a simple kiss, "Morning, sleepy-head. Breakfast is in the living room," he told him simply then went back to his hair, "I'll eat when I get my hair out of the way. Honestly, it's a miracle that we didn't wake up tangled in it," he added with a smile.

Surprisingly, he usually woke up in a better mood after a session in the playroom. Although, maybe it shouldn't have been that much of a surprise...  

[Dameon Black Alt]

Red Gypsy

Amir
Amir was grateful that Dancer didn't try to do anything else. While he would have enjoyed it, he would've been left with no energy for the next day's healing session. And that would've likely meant having to skip the session. So he was glad that he didn't have to worry about that.

He blinked several times as he woke up and made a pleased sound when he saw Dancer brushing and braiding his hair. He returned Dancer's simple kiss and smiled back at him. "Good morning," he said. He got out of the bed and stretched a bit, grinning a bit at Dancer's comment about it being a miracle that they hadn't woken up tangled in his hair. "I doubt that I would've complained about waking up with us all tangled up and stuck close together. We would've had to be really careful so that we didn't pull your hair too much, but that would've made it more fun."

Amir was also clearly in a really good mood. He knew that he was going to do what he wanted with his life now, and he knew that Dancer would be there to help him. With all of that added to the general good feeling that he'd gotten from healing Dancer and then taking him through the playroom, it was really impossible for him to be in anything but a great mood. He moved into the living room and took a seat. He looked over the trays containing their breakfast and smiled at Dancer as the other male moved into the room. "I feel great after yesterday. And you're coming along great. It won't take much more before we've got you fully healed up and ready for whatever you want to do next." He reached out to take a cup of juice and took a sip. "Speaking of healing, where do you want to go for today's session?"

 

[Red Gypsy]

Dameon Black Alt

Dancer thought about the question as he settled on the couch next to him to eat, finding that the sausage was perfectly spiced and perfectly cooked. Of everything on the plate, he seemed to be craving the protein he guessed. That was a good sign, in his opinion.

He considered everywhere that they could go for the next healing session and finally thought about one spot that held potential. He was a bit uncertain of the location because of the emotional connection. But it was the perfect location....

"There is a spot... I haven't been there in a little over two years though... Not since before..." he faded to a stop there and looked down at his coffee cup for a moment to gather himself again and offered a small smile, "I was talking to Sebastet about giving me the other tower. Michael and I were supposed to start remodeling it in just a few months when I was taken. I didn't know it, but they'd caught him when he'd tried to come after me. When I caught on to it, the torture got worse. Then they killed him. The pain was indescribable. After that, they got inventive with me. I'm still not sure why..." he spoke softly about it, holding in the emotions for the moment.

In truth, it was the first time that he'd ever spoken of the torture. So that much was a big step for him.

He took in a deep breath and continued with the original subject, "I still have the key to that tower. It's in the playroom. The roof of that tower is a good spot for the healing. I was going to turn it into a sunning spot anyway. Kindof an outdoor porch thing. The tower had three floors. The main floor was going to be a living area like this with a bedroom attached to it. Second floor was going to be the bathroom. And the third was going to be a bigger playroom. I had everything designed and the blueprints for the redecorating. I was going to surprise Michael with that and the key on our anniversary..." he explained softly.

What he didn't know was that Sebastet had acted on her own to set the tower up for him over the two years he'd been gone. She'd intended to give him the tower anyway. So they were probably going to get a big surprise when they went over there...  

[Dameon Black Alt]

Red Gypsy

Amir
Amir quickly leaned over and placed a kiss on Dancer's cheek as the other male settled next to him on the couch. He started to eat, glad to see that Dancer seemed to be enjoying the food so much. He got lost in the taste of the food while Dancer considered where to go for the day's healing session. He really was feeling pretty amazing right now. Having great food after such a good night's rest and really amazing sex had him in the best of moods.

He paused as he heard Dancer speaking, looking over to him as he noticed the hesitation and picked up on the significance of what Dancer was saying. He immediately reached out to take Dancer's hand as he started to talk about the torture and loss of his Mate. He knew that there wasn't really much that he could do about the emotional pain that Dancer had to be feeling, but he could hope that he was at least helping with the clear gesture of emotional support.

He decided not to say anything in response to Dancer's talk about what he'd been through, fearing that addressing it could cause Dancer to retreat a bit. He considered the rest of what Dancer had said, thinking about whether the tower he'd described would really be the best place to go because of the emotional connection it had for him. He finally decided to trust that Dancer knew what he could handle better than anyone else would, so he would follow his desires.

"I know that it can't be easy going there again," he started softly, placing a light kiss to Dancer's hand that he was still holding. "If that's what you think will be the best place, I'll trust your decision. All you have to do is lead, and I'll follow you wherever you want to go." He turned Dancer's face a bit and placed a brief kiss on Dancer's lips, hoping to help put him at ease a bit.

 

[Red Gypsy]

Dameon Black Alt

I'll move them there as soon as I make the thread for it.

Dancer smiled at the kisses and squeezed his hand in return, taking the comfort for what it was. He did appreciate it more than he could express. But he knew that this was one trial he would have to process on his own, in his own mind. Still, walking it with Amir would make it easier.

He finally got to his feet and collected the food trays to set them outside the main door then headed into his closet to collect a tanktop to go with his shorts. He didn't bother with shoes. He only had one pair anyway. He'd rarely worn them before the attack and remembered that Michael had found it entertaining.

With his hair braided back, he moved over to the playroom to collect the key hanging just inside the doorway. He held it for a moment, simply looking at it. It was a little different than he remembered, but knew it was the right key. It was an old and heavy brass key, the top of it ornate filigree that held the stylized shape of a phoenix rising from the ashes. The imagery wasn't lost on him.

He finally took in a deep breath and passed a small smile to Amir, "Let's go and see what we have to work with," he said simply and headed for the door. Their path would lead then directly across the garden to the southwest tower.