Welcome to Gaia! ::

It was a bit odd to be living with someone after so long. Odd that there were so many limitations on what he was allowed to do, when Iriel had lived the last thousand years having no one and nothing and being constrained only by his own physical limitations. It didn’t really occur to him to be sparing with giving out Thaddeus and Elias’ information. Which he didn’t really do- but Alexi knew he lived with Knights. And now he knew where those Knights lived.

Thad and Eli seemed to have some suspicion and mistrust of others, and after Iriel had said Alexi- who was Windsor, a Knight like them- was coming to pick him up at his (their) place of residence, they had impressed on him in a manner bordering unkind that they would strongly prefer if people they’d never met and weren’t familiar with, didn’t know their Knightly affiliation and where they lived and their civilian names.

Later, they’d amended that if it was just them, it wouldn’t be a big deal…

But they had to be extra careful because of Teyla (and because of who Thad was previously). She was too young and too small to be overly involved in this war business, and they were still worried that if certain people got a whiff of Thad- Regal- Nobleite- it would be a lot of danger for their household. Which they could not risk with Teyla present. Having Iriel staying with them was already dangerous, but Thad was a good person, and couldn’t stomach the thought of abandoning someone to be alone and confused on a new planet.

He didn’t regret Iriel staying with them.

But there were risks. Risks they probably shouldn’t have taken if they were trying to protect Teyla.

Still, they’d already done it, and Thad didn’t regret it. But if their civilian names and Knight names and the location of their home was just going to be out in the air, the least he could do was moderate it. And so it was Thaddeus who opened the door, looking comfortable (and very suburban) in a knit vest with a short sleeve tee underneath and baggy yoga pants.

He smiled, gentler and softer than any of Iriel’s expressions, but it was absolutely not a suggestion when he said to the boy at the door, “Come in. Iriel will be ready soon, I think.”

It was… quite a young and excitable guy standing in Thaddeus’ doorway, if the momentum that brought the young man forward (and then promptly made him recoil) was anything to go by. A lot of energy. Very forthright. Thad wasn’t… suuuuure if that was a good thing… Given what they were, he might have felt safer to meet someone with more discretion…

But Thad was nothing if not polite and hospitable. He shook the other’s hand as it was offered to him, giving a gentle tug to help him steady himself back on his feet after his fall. “Alexi. Hi. I’m Thaddeus.” He didn’t think it would ever not be weird to give his current name, when he still felt like he would always be Micah, but it was just a name. He didn’t need to think too hard on it, and definitely didn’t want anything strange to come across his face while he was meeting someone new…

Though his smile did slip as Alexi came right out with- “Dating?” Thad parroted, blinking in surprise.

Hadn’t they met, like, twice? Ever? And Iriel was essentially a trillion years old and an alien seeking to restore his collapsed planet, and this guy didn’t look to be more than… a teenager. A teenager who happened to be a Knight, sure, but… These priorities… Ah, to be young and unencumbered.

“Nnno. I’m married.” But he supposed that barely mattered if polyamory was already being brought up, so he added, “A little too much drama for my tastes.” …Although, admittedly, Iriel was already living here, so the drama was coming from inside the house already. No, no.

He cleared his throat softly and stepped to the side, waving for Alexi to come in as what sounded like a herd descended the stairs. Iriel was not light of foot.

He rounded the corner to come into the entry hall and practically enveloped the entire space with his bulk, forcing Thad to back up a bit so Iriel could sweep forward with a wide grin to grab at Alexi and lift him physically into the house. “You found it! I’m glad. I have found navigating to be somewhat of a struggle. Come.” He set Alexi back to his feet then took him around the arm to lead him deeper inside. “Thaddeus wishes to speak with you. Us.”

From behind him, “Nothing bad, just…” He trailed off.

Thaddeus was fortunate to be a patient man, because this was an awful lot of conclusion-jumping from someone that he was being forced to trust. If he’d been asked how likely he was to give his identity to someone like Alexi, he would’ve admitted to it being… quite a low chance. But no one had asked him. Iriel just did as he pleased, and Thaddeus couldn’t even be offended by it because Iriel didn’t have a complete grasp on how important these secrets were… even amongst their own faction. He didn’t think Alexi did, either.

“No.” As Thad led them into the house, into the dining room, he tapped a finger lightly to a frame hanging on the wall in the hallway. A picture of himself crouching next to a tall, aqua-haired man chasing a small, presumably screaming, pink-haired girl. “My husband and daughter are running errands, at the moment.”

“I’d like to not get involved with Iriel’s relationships. It’s not really my business…”

He knew for a fact that if it was his child ‘dating’ a thousand-year-old alien, he’d definitely have an opinion on the matter, but it wasn’t… And he shouldn’t be minding what any other grown men were doing- Except Iriel had invited this one to his house. Told Alexi about the Knights who’d taken him in. Their relationship wasn’t his business. Unless it became problematic. It was just his business because there were other factors.

“You can go ahead and sit down. I’ll get us something to drink,” before he slipped out of the room into the adjoining kitchen.

Iriel swept a chair out for Alexi to take a seat. “Thad is a good person. Mostly.” Tacked on only as an afterthought because he didn’t really have any idea what sorts of things the other man had done while under Chaos’ influence. “He is just a worrisome, anxious sort, and it’s hard for him to trust the good nature of someone he hasn’t met, I think.”

Once Alexi was seated, Iriel plopped down into the chair immediately next to him, scooting it even closer as he propped an arm up on the table. “What business of yours would it be if I was ‘married?”

Iriel shifted where he sat, lacing his fingers beneath his chin as he eyed the other with a curious gaze, though his smile did not falter. Alexi did indeed look discomforted, though Iriel couldn’t say why with complete certainty.

He had not answered to anyone in centuries. Had not requested permission for his whims and had not “checked in” or informed anyone of his activities. There wasn’t anyone. Any crazy or heinous thing Iriel had thought to do- he just did, if he couldn’t persuade himself not to. Iriel wasn’t going out of his way to keep secrets. He even considered himself to be quite forthright! He’d told Alexi all about where he lived and the people who’d taken him in and all the things he enjoyed (or didn’t enjoy) about this planet.

And their relationship. It was supposed to be fun and easy.

Which was what Iriel had decided that most of his Earth experiences should be: “fun and easy,” for whatever happened when he was out of his Senshi guise. It was what Thad and Eli had encouraged of him. Relax. Recover. A break. It had been so long… For his deteriorating mental wellbeing, and consequently the likelihood of him actually succeeding in ridding his world of Chaos, rest would be best.

Agreeing to ‘rest’ and ‘enjoy’ didn’t change that he had only one desire. One objective. One thing he wasn’t going to let go.

“Ah! Haha!” His laugh was soft and vibrant. “I think I am seeing where the misunderstanding stems from.” That lack of communication Alexi complained about. “I am not committed to a person. Nor do I wish to be.”

He had a whole slew of opinions about ‘rules,’ which were exactly what Iriel didn’t want in his Earth relationships. He’d admitted that he had no interest in commitment, the admittance more of a courtesy than an explicit requirement, as far as he was concerned. What he hadn’t said anything about was attachment, because acknowledging that there was nothing left in him to use as an anchor to hold him close to someone else was an unkind way to speak of himself, regardless of the truth of it.

So much of him had been ground away, and Iriel wasn’t even sure how much of any space Senshi’s experiences a human could understand with any clarity. That amount of time. That amount of loss. And Alexi was worried about his feelings getting hurt.

But Iriel was still smiling, and rather than say how he was currently only interested in freedom and fun wherever he could have it, for whatever scant amount of time he could have it for, Iriel hummed out a teasing, “So protective!”

It was that moment that Thaddeus decided to make himself apparent. He hadn’t really wanted to disturb them while they were discussing the workings of their private relationship, but also he worried that Iriel might say something to offend Alexi- and consequently put them all in danger. He didn’t know anything about this boy. It was completely possible he had the makings of a vindictive ex inside of him.

So he cleared his throat and stepped into the room carrying a tray of clinking ceramic. “Tea,” he said as he set the tray on the table and began to divvy out the cups, gently sliding one to Alexi as well as a small container of sugar. “Earl grey with a bit of vanilla and a little milk. Iriel likes his quite sweet.”

“Oh, I do,” Iriel agreed as he immediately brought the practically-boiling liquid to his lips. “There was no such indulgence on my world.” No sugar. Barely anything to drink. He took a sip, brows pinching and nose wrinkling because it was scalding, but he was too impatient to wait for it to cool.

Thad took up a seat across from them, doing his best to smile as well, though he was actually quite nervous about dealing with someone Iriel was one bad line away from scorning. “Anyway, I just wanted to make sure you were doing alright? With the… the Knight stuff. I’d heard you were rather new at it…?”

An awful woman with a yo-yo… Well, Thaddeus had to assume that meant a newly-indoctrinated Negaverse agent. He remembered none of his own time, but he did know he hadn’t been particularly aggressive, and he was fairly certain people like him weren’t uncommon among those ranks. But whoever Alexi had met had gone for his throat. With a real weapon instead of a toy, it could’ve ended much differently… At least he should understand some of the severity.

“You’re quite lucky, I think. A little more advanced of an enemy would’ve left more than a bruise. Or taken something precious, I suppose.”

But either he’d held his own, or the yo-yo woman wasn’t actually a murderer, or maybe whoever he’d met had teamed up with him to scare their opponent away. Thaddeus couldn’t say based on the information he was given. “And lucky to have already met so many people who would help you.” His new friend who would help with his weapon- and Thad was including Lovas in the ‘luck’ as well.

“But I’m sorry you were attacked, that you were hurt. It’s a little par for the course with having these sorts of abilities… Which is just more reason to be careful.” Thaddeus barely had any ground to speak on it. He’d been the greatest danger to his own family even before Iriel had come to the world, before Iriel spoke so casually about his Knight roommates… Thad didn’t know how much more danger could really be invited into their home.

“Iriel isn’t the best at conveying the gravity of keeping this secret and taking precautions to guard against the Negaverse. They say they own the city, after all… The dangers could truly be everywhere.”

“I did not ever have to keep my identity secret,” Iriel huffed flippantly, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms across his chest. Who would his world have turned to if there was no Senshi? Who would shoulder the burden of cleansing it? Who would take the blame if it failed? There was no hiding who he was, and it frustrated him even here, no matter how much it was explained to him. “It seems silly to hide when I want them to come to me. I want all the roaches to crawl out of their hidey-holes so that I can stomp them-”

“They’ll kill you. Or worse,” Thaddeus grumbled, sounding very much like he’d had this conversation a hundred times. It was probably close at this point. He turned back to Alexi with a resigned sigh. “I am trying to do whatever I can to make this as… minimally traumatizing experience as I can for my daughter.”

He’d already had failings in that regard.

Thaddeus looked back to Alexi “I only wanted to make sure you understand what an act of trust it to have our names and identities thanks to someone-” Iriel scoffed, turned his nose up. “-that I have no control over. We’re in your care.”

Thaddeus should admit here, openly, that he was unlikely to be a particularly reliable Knight to call upon if Alexi needed help. If it had been up to him at all, he wouldn’t be involved. He could do without the powers, almost wished his husband and child didn’t have them, either. But it hadn’t been up to him to join the Negaverse, and he would’ve accepted any way out of it. Including becoming who he was now.

He didn’t enjoy any of it. …But as he’d already accepted in the past, this was probably some form of penance he owed. To be available if someone ‘less experienced’ needed him.

“I appreciate your discretion. …And if you think I could be of some help to you for whatever you might need, I’ll do my best.” Maybe he would be fortunate, and it would involve something besides altercation with the Negaverse, who Thaddeus desperately wanted to see very little of. Wanted Elias and Teyla to see very little of.

Iriel had been something of a mistake in that regard, as he engaged them at every opportunity. Like he wanted them to know he existed.

And Iriel was not apologetic about it. “Oh, giving me such a sour look when I agree with you!” He pouted, craning over the table as if to make himself more noticeable. “Keeping people safe is of utmost importance! It is just that they would be safest if there were no Chaos on this world. And I have already experienced what happens if it is allowed to fester for too long.”

“We-“ He gestured broadly, sweeping a digit in a circle around the tabletop to indicate all those sitting at it. “-are allies and our goals are similar! I am not being as careless as you think.”