marlowemuses | The lonely become either thoughtful or empty

Adam nodded, glad to have Alec nearby, even though he still felt wary and defensive, and the dread of not being able to leave again hung over him, souring every bite. He still kept one arm curled protectively around his plate, unable to believe that this feast was for him and wouldn't just vanish.

He ate hungrily, realizing just how hungry he was the more that he ate, and he tentatively got up to fill another plate once the first was done. "You can ask your questions," he suggested, keeping an eye on Alec partly out of wariness and partly because he just wanted to look at him.

As he ate, he tried not to make his curiosity too obvious, forcing himself to keep his attention mostly on his meal instead of Adam. Slowly, he began to realize that Adam wasn't wary of him. He didn't act like he was expecting Alec to attack him. It still seemed strange that Adam was on guard, but he could ignore that.

"I'm not sure what to ask," he admitted, surprised that his plate was empty. It seemed foolish to ask questions about things he could look up later, but Adam said that he wouldn't answer questions about himself. "I did look up America, but I didn't read about Virginia. It seemed..." He shrugged and got up to select some of the more exotic fruit that rarely appeared at the temple. His voice grew softer as he thought about how curious he'd been about where Adam lived. And how Adam hadn't seemed to want to share any details of his life. "Wrong so I read about other places."

"It's just a state," Adam said, picking at his food a little slower as he talked and keeping his eyes on his plate. "There's West Virginia, too, but that's different. I live where it's deep rural, woods and hills." His accent thickened as he spoke, both from the emotional knots building in his chest and the unconscious association when he thought about where he'd come from. "Most folks that way are poor, but there's a rich school built. My friends and I go there, except Blue. Gansey's all determination and nobility, and Ronan's all ferocity and imagination. There's Noah, too, but he's been dead for as long as I've known him." Adam, more than the others, found Noah to be unnerving and inhuman, and they both knew that the feeling was mutual, which made for a strange sort of truce.

"It still seemed wrong to read about it." About things that were important to Adam when he'd seemed to dislike Alec. "That seems like a strange place to build a school if everyone else is poor." Maybe that would be a safer topic than the ones he wanted to ask about. Did that mean that Adam was poor and that was the scholarship he'd mentioned before? That was probably one of those 'don't ask' questions.

Alec wanted to know more about Gansey and Ronan, but it would be unfair to ask when he didn't want to talk about Izzy, Jace, or Max. That rule should have included Noah but Adam describing him as 'dead' was too strange for Alec to ignore. "Is Noah a vampire?"

"A ghost," Adam corrected. Vampires only seemed slightly stranger than ghosts to him, and since he'd spent the last few months getting used to the idea of ghosts and ley lines as real things that he had undeniably experienced, Alec's question seemed completely reasonable. "Gansey's my best friend. He's the one looking for the Welsh king. You'd probably like Gansey. He's much better at answering questions."

Scuffing his toe against the floor, Adam watched Alec shyly. He was still achingly handsome, but there was a nervous awkwardness to him that was cute. Adam couldn't quite believe that he would actually want to court him, but Alec had been starved for company for hundreds of years, and Adam was his only option, so it made sense that his standards would lower accordingly.

"The ghosts I knew could only stay at certain sites." Maybe Noah was confined to the school and that's how he went there with Adam and his other friends. Alec almost asked if Adam was searching for something that would let him cross over, but that seemed rude. If Noah wanted to move on, Adam would help him.

"You answer questions. I just have to figure out the right ones to ask." Which sometimes was a struggle since hearing about the mortal world was completely different than reading about it. As long as he kept his curiosity under control, they should be all right. "And I might like Gansey but I like you too.

"If he's looking for a Welsh king, shouldn't he be looking in Wales?" His knowledge of the world was limited in some ways, but Alec knew that America was not close to Wales. "Are you looking for the king too?"

"Noah can only manifest along the ley line, since he was killed on the ley line and his bones are there."

Adam fidgeted a little, because he was aware of how many restrictions he'd already put on Alec's questions, and how hard Alec was trying to operate within those restrictions. He appreciated the assertion that Alec would like him even if there were other options, but he didn't feel confident in it.

"He's found evidence to suggest that the king's body was carried to Virginia along a ley line," Adam explained. He knew how it sounded. He'd been so skeptical at first, but Gansey's passion was enough to convince anyone.

Alec's question about whether Adam was looking for the king surprised him. It was Gansey's quest, and though Adam had thought about what he would ask, if he were granted a favor, Adam had only just settled into believing it when he had instead forged his bargain with the ley line. He was part of it, now, an extension of the ley line the same way that it was an extension of him, and Adam was no longer sure what favor he would ask of Glendower. "It's Gansey's quest. I'm only helping."

Nodding at the explanation of Noah's abilities, Alec tried one of the pieces of fruit that he hadn't recognized. Surprised by the odd sweetness of it, he made a pleased sound, blushing when he realized how rude that was. "Sorry," he muttered, glancing down at his plate. "I didn't expect..." He probably should wait to eat the rest of that later.

"I've never heard of ley lines working like that, but there might be more about it in the library." Alec doubted that Adam would be able to find any books that would say where the king was, but there might be information that might help Adam figure out that aspect of the quest.

"I doubt that you're only helping. You're the priestess. The ley lines are connected to the quest." Noticing that the cats had finished their snack and Emily was leaning against his leg, he offered her a piece of meat and then left one for Persephone before she decided to attack Adam's plate. "It might be Gansey's quest but I doubt that you're just meant to be a helper."

"Why are you sorry?" Adam asked, perplexed. It took him a moment to realize that Alec meant the sound, and even once he'd realized it he didn't understand why Alec felt he had to apologize. It had been kind of funny, and kind of cute, in a way that Adam wanted to think about more later. Privately.

"Gansey's our king," Adam murmured, though he ducked his head a little as he said it. He'd never said it out loud before. "Ronan and I, we're his magicians."

"Because it was rude? My mother would have lectured me over it." Not in front of guests, of course, but afterward, he would have been criticized for his lack of manners. "There's only certain types of fruit here. Things from tropical places don't show up often. Neither does already made food."

Sitting back in his chair, he considered the idea of kings in relation to the temple's priestess. Alec knew that Gansey couldn't be a true king in the sense of lineage so he assumed that there was something special about Adam's friend that would earn that title. Ronan might be a warlock, but that seemed to be one of those topics that Adam would avoid. "You haven't read the tales of kings and magicians if you think you're 'just helping'. It was the magicians that caused the stories to move forward."

"I don't think it was rude," Adam said, brow still a little bit furrowed. He had a sick feeling in his chest at the idea of Alec being lectured over something tiny like that, because it was all too awfully familiar. "You can cook?" he asked, since that was the only conclusion he could draw from Alec's statement that food didn't appear already made.

There was a tray of pastries, all different, artful Parisian delicacies like nothing Adam had ever seen before. He selected one of them with care, setting it on his plate and turning it a quarter turn so that he could admire the exquisite, towering, tiny confection.

"Then I won't worry as much about my manners." At least not when they were eating. Alec knew he still had to be careful with other aspects of his interactions with Adam. The temple had proven that when it refused to let him heal properly. "I can. Nothing as elaborate as - " He gestured toward all the dishes that had appeared for Adam. "This but I don't think I'm bad at it." He'd had enough time to practice and food was one of the few ways he could try to mimic aspects of the mortal world.

Even knowing that there was a whole plate of pastry beside them, Alec couldn't stop himself from staring at the one that Adam had selected. The care that had to have went into creating such a thing amazed him. Realizing that he was being rude again, he turned his attention to the tray. "They're beautiful." As he spoke, he selected one of the pastries and gently set it on his plate. "Almost too beautiful to eat. Even if I had the tools, I couldn't make something like this."

"I'm sure you could. With practice and dedication, if it's what you chose to spend your time on." Adam believed that when it came to most things. He had to. Every time someone had told him he couldn't, he worked and worked until he proved them wrong.

"I don't know how to cook," he admitted. He hadn't had time or opportunity, and didn't expect that to change in the near future. He survived on apples, cheese, peanut butter, bread, and granola bars. That was a balanced diet, as best as he could get it. The spread in front of him was a wonder beyond imagination.

"And electricity," he teased. "Or an oven that doesn't have cold spots." Adam was right. If he had the right ingredients and learned the right techniques he might be able to make a passable imitation of the pastries. He doubted that they'd be as pretty as the ones that the temple had given them.

"I could teach you." He wasn't sure if Adam would want to but it was a skill that he could teach...or one that didn't involve weapons. After their first meeting, Adam probably didn't want to see Alec armed. "If you want me to."

Adam was surprised that the temple couldn't provide a functional oven, when it could provide other wonders like this feast, but he kept that to himself.

"I don't have time," Adam said, looking away. He picked at his dessert, carefully extracting a tiny bite at a time in order to make it last.

As much as he wanted to have the time to take cooking lessons with a gorgeous guy who wanted to court him, that wasn't Adam's life, and he didn't think it ever could be.

After Adam took his first bite of dessert, Alec relaxed and took a bite of the pastry he'd chosen. Adam had suggested that Alec didn't need to follow the old lessons Maryse had forced on him, but some things were habit. The guest always received the first choices at a meal and the host should wait before eating.

"Why don't you?" He kept his tone cautious since he didn't want Adam thinking he was demanding a role in his life. Adam had made it obvious that the temple and its guardian were not the highest priority. Alec couldn't blame him for that choice. He would have made the same choice if his siblings were involved. "Are there things I can help you with?" Alec wasn't sure if Adam would agree or if he could even help the priestess, but he might be able to. Even if it was a minor task, he would feel useful and it would be something new to hold his attention.

“I work three jobs,” Adam said, eyes on his food. “Plus school.” He briefly considered mentioning that he was missing his shift at work to be here, but didn’t.

Picking at his food for a moment, Adam turned over the offer, his pride, and Alec’s feelings. “I don’t need anyone’s help,” he said, thickly, hoping that Alec wouldn’t take it as a personal rejection.

For a few seconds, Alec considered the pastry in front of him. There seemed to be less chance of offending Adam if he was focused on dessert instead of him. Three jobs, school, and being the priestess of the temple. Those seemed like an overwhelming number of roles for one being.

"You're the priestess of the temple. I am its guard and I'm supposed to be your assistant. Those are my jobs" He struggled, trying to think of the right context for explaining his own role without offending Adam. "That means I should help you with things that are related to the temple and ley line or that gives you time to work with them." That might not sway Adam, but maybe one of the arguments that would have worn down his siblings might. "Until you arrived, I hadn't done anything new in centuries. Even something small that's different would be welcome."

"You're not my assistant, you're my partner," Adam argued. His jaw clenched and his nostrils flared, trying hard not to fight about this. He didn't know how to explain it without offending Alec or hurting his own pride, and he didn't want to insult Alec with the implication that he wouldn't understand.

"No," Adam said, very simply. He put down his fork. "I have to go. I have homework."

Not looking at Alec, Adam got up and headed for the door.

"If I'm your partner then you shouldn't push me away or ignore my offers to help you." But Adam would. Alec was his partner in their work in name only. Which made the idea of courting even more confusing and awkward to him. Adam wanted him to court him, but Alec wouldn't be able to help him or be a true partner.

It was probably better if they kept those boundaries. Adam was mortal and had a life that Alec couldn't experience.

Standing, he stood by his chair. Emily headbutted his shin and Persephone sauntered toward the door. "Good luck with school."

Adam ignored that, because if he didn't, then they would fight, and then the temple might try to trap him again. He was already too scared that it would try to trap him now.

Heading for the gate without a word, Adam stepped through and was surprised to find it was still light. When he checked his phone, it was only minutes after he'd gone in. He could still make it to work.

His head reeled with the shock of it, because he felt as though it was late evening, but his watch said afternoon. The temple had given him the gift of time, which was the most valuable gift he could have accepted.

~

Hopeful that the temple would grant him time again, Adam went back the next day, bringing Gansey this time. He'd explained everything that he felt was his to explain, about the gate, the temple with a guardian, and his new role as 'priestess'. It felt right to bring Gansey. Adam didn't want to keep this secret from him, if it could end up helping Gansey's quest, and he thought that Gansey might actually be helpful to him in connecting with Alec.

Hand in hand, he led Gansey through the gate, grateful that he came through unharmed. Wanting to make sure that Alec didn't feel this was an invasion, Adam waited near Gansey at the gate, neither of them taking more than a step into the temple.

"This is Gansey," Adam said when Alec appeared. He watched Alec carefully, wanting to be sure to prevent any hint of violence toward Gansey. "You can ask him anything you want. Including anything you'd like to know about me."

After Adam left, Alec didn't expect him to return right away. He assumed it would be days like it had been before. They might have parted on slightly better terms, but there was no urgent reason for the priestess to return. Adam wouldn't fall for Persephone's dramatics when Alec hadn't been injured before he left.

When he felt someone cross the border between worlds, Alec quickly headed for the gate, scowling when he realized he sensed two people instead of one. Conjuring a seraph blade, he stayed near the steps, glaring at the beings that had entered his territory.

"Hello, Gansey." He turned his attention toward Adam, glowering at the priestess. "I'd say it was a pleasure to meet you, but I'm supposed to kill anyone who steps through the gates." Gesturing toward the gates, he hoped they'd leave before the cats realized Adam had brought his friend. "Get him out of here before something happens that we'll all regret."

"He's under my protection," Adam said, glowering right back at Alec. "I'm authorizing his presence, and I will take full responsibility for that. You will not kill him without going through me."

"He's not going through you," Gansey said mildly, but with a note of authority. It was to Adam, not to Alec. Gansey would not let anyone die for him. Not again.

"He's my guest," Adam said to Alec, still holding his glower.

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