Chapter Text
Afterwards, Lyor joined Mevolent on a walk in the gardens of the palace. Lyor had lived in this castle for 4 years. Lyor and Baron left for their home dimension in a day. Mevolent talked about missing battle, how no Sorcerer really used their magic anymore. A wasted gift he said.
“There is a book written by a mortal in my world,” Lyor said, they hesitated but Mevolent nodded for them to continue. The Sorcerers were funny when Lyor talked about or referenced mortal literature from their home dimension, “H.G Wells, his creative property is incredible, his books are great.”
“You mentioned him before, yes, War of the Worlds,” Mevolent remembered, Lyor’s mother had been a huge fan of War of the Worlds and Lyor spiralled to investigating and enjoying his other works, “Which I have put on the list of books to be brought back.”
“I’ll also pick up a vinyl of the musical,” Lyor added, Mevolent chuckled and nodded at that, “Anyway- One of his other books, The Time Machine- The working class and the aristocrats become two different species. The upper class becomes Eloi, beautiful, but their fragile, cow-like, so used to decadence and not working that they… Degrade. So lazy they just happily watch others drown.”
“Are you suggesting my Sorcerers are becoming like this?”
Lyor stopped and turned, Mevolent turned back to them. Lyor wondered if he was prepared to strike them, “Sir, Lord Mevolent sir- I have met 3 Sorcerers who have lost all usage of their wrist bones because their mortal slaves literally do all the lifting for them. Their son has lapsed in important milestones.”
“Ah, Mr and Mrs Setiequos. They have a son?”
“He died of starvation when he was 8 because his mother ordered that no mortal dare touch her precious Sorcerer baby.”
Mevolent’s lips twitched in a way Lyor had never seen before. He nodded and started to walk again. Lyor followed. Mevolent spoke after a few minutes of silence, “We have won, my people have nothing left to do… Perhaps allocating all work to mortals was more of a victory-drunk choice than a clever one.”
“And because they're so spoiled, you wouldn’t be able to get them to work either.”
“Bar your dear Baron,” He smirked. Lyor groaned, knowing Mevolent was just changing the topic so he didn’t have to face his own discomforts. But they knew this had to be discussed too.
“Baron is not my ‘dear’... He is my boss.”
“He is about to travel dimensions with you, you really should confront your feelings before doing so.”
“I have come to terms with them…”
“And what are those feelings?”
“... I want him to chew my face off,” They blurted out. Mevolent spun on his heel and Lyor held up their hand, “One of my dimension’s euphemisms- It means I want him to kiss me so passionately and roughly it’s like he’s trying to-”
“To devour you, wow,” Mevolent nodded, “Mortal euphemisms- Crude but efficient.”
“Better than eloquent and useless.”
“But he doesn’t feel the same.” Lyor grumbled.
“Ah, never say never,” They finished their walking and Mevolent nodded to Lyor, “I’ll make sure Baron packs his nice shirts.” It took everything in Lyor not to try to punch him in the stomach or dick.
Lyor and Baron left in the morning. The shunter took them to where Phoenix park was quiet, what were trees in Dimension X was a corner in the Africa section of Dublin Zoo. Lyor wore the outfit they had worn when they first came to Dimension X. On Lyor’s guidance, Baron wore his jacket open and a simple white button up.
It only occurred to Lyor how there were no children in Dimension X - Sorcerers lived so long they didn’t see the point. But here, there were lots. Baron had to side step as some toddlers, apart from a birthday party, racing each other to get into the play area. Lyor laughed at how flustered Baron got. Mortals surrounded them, families, couples, school trips. They did laps of the zoo, Lyor letting Baron get used to this dimension this way. The mortals were a lot more friendly here, without the fear of sense wardens or redhoods, people were friendly in general.
Lyor usually would find it overstimulating, but it all felt good, felt like home. They walked out of the zoo, down towards Hueston station. Lyor watched as Baron would stumble, stop and stare. Cars rumbled by, buses were blurs. Buildings, flat, glass and cement surrounded them. When they reached the train station, the Guinness storehouse stood on the opposite side, the Liffey to the left, the HSE government building to the right. Luis and bus stops in the middle of it all. They found a cafe nearby, up the Keys, Lyor charged their phone as they had food and drinks.
Baron was fascinated by the plastic, by the football on the tv, by the tv, and by the food. It was a cheap place Lyor used to hit up. Lyor only had a red velvet cake slice but Baron got a roast chicken and stuffing sandwich. Lyor had gotten a mocha with oat milk while Baron got water.
“Lactose intolerance? How?” Baron was intrigued; he had always wondered why Lyor asked for the servants to avoid using too much milk or butter in their dishes.
“Ya know the birth control pills I’m on?” He nodded and so Lyor continued, “Before being on those kinds, I was on two different kinds. Both had oestrogen in them, both made me very sick. Pretty sure one of them messed me up in a way I am now lactose intolerant.” They sipped their mocha, “Not all bad. The oat milk is sweet, makes the mocha nice.”
He nodded as he watched the people go by, where Hueston and Phoenix Park was, that was where Mevolent’s castle was. People here walked freely and thought, and said what they wanted. He looked down at the tourist brochures they picked up at Hueston. They had already done the zoo, Lyor recommended the immigration museum and the ‘dead zoo’, the natural history museum. Lyor’s bank account was still open, they had years of payments untouched in their bank. Lyor remembered when they first hung around Pleasant, he promised to make sure their bank didn’t suspect they were missing, originally for a few months, but he kept that promise for those years.
“The Clayton hotel we’ll go to, it's nice, up by the theatre, not too far from the luis stop.” Lyor finally got their phone on. Lyor sat up straight, they unlocked their phone. Hundreds of missed emails, different social media notifications… And a few missed scam calls. Baron tilted his head as he looked at Lyor.
“What can we do for fun here?”
“Get drunk.”
“... I do want to try some of those… Cocktails you have talked about.”
Lyor snorted, “I think that's the last night to celebrate kind of night.” Baron nodded.
“Lets just enjoy our time away, all work and no play makes Baron a very unhappy boy.”
He just arched an eyebrow, and Lyor realised this would be another reference they’d have to explain.
5 nights, just doing tourist things. Lyor showed Baron Jervis street shopping centre, they went to the cinema, Song of the Sea since Baron wanted to see a film made in Ireland, Lyor managed to convince him to go see Planes too. Lyor bought DVDS and they watched TV in the hotel room. Lamb to the Slaughter, Baron couldn’t believe it when Lyor said a children’s book author wrote it or when they said it was a pretty vanilla horror compared to modern stuff. Then they watched Friday the 13th, Scream, Halloween, some episodes of Doctor Who, Karate Kid, Fantastic Mr Fox, and quite a lot of Disney films. Some history documentaries.
“She reminds me of you,” Lyor said as they ate takeaway, Chinese, while watching Wall-E. Baron managed to pry his eyes away from the screen. He frowned.
“Eve?” He looked back at the white robot. Lyor nodded.
“Loyal, clean aesthetics, professional, her cause and her purpose is important to her. She sophisticated.”
Baron chuckled and looked at Lyor, “Well you remind me of Wall-E.”
Lyor looked up at him, “Why?”
“Because you smell like garbage.” He snorted. Lyor stared, first shocked Baron had made a joke and second the subject of that joke. They laughed as they punched him in the arm. He roared in laughter as the two stayed there for the night.
A day before they left, they had dinner in a Sorcerer-run restaurant. The reason why? Pleasant was joining them, Skulduggery Pleasant and Dexter Vex. Lyor hugged Skulduggery as the 4 sat together. Baron was quiet but Lyor chatted away. Once 3 had ordered their food, Skulduggery filled them in. Lyor was quiet as they realised Ghastly was dead, Baron placed a hand on their back as they absorbed the information. Then they talked about Roarhaven, Baron seemed less than impressed when Skulduggery said China was now supreme mage.
“I hope you don’t mind me asking how your new home is?” Skulduggery gestured, “I only got to see the dungeons.” Lyor laughed. They looked at Baron who nodded and gestured for them to talk. And so they did, Lyor and Pleasant compared the dimensions. Dexter and Baron compared the alcohol. When food came, the conversation turned to something more personal. How Lyor was finding being trans and Autistic in the dimension.
“There isn’t a word for Autism, but Sorcerers have become so snotty, my requests are actually seen as selfless and polite.”
The two Dead men glanced at Baron who nodded, “Most of ‘em claim war glory, but almost none served or were on the Sanctuary side. Most can barely walk without their slaves moving their legs for them.” That made Dexter laugh. Baron just sipped his whiskey.
“And the transition?” Skulduggery turned back to Lyor.
“Professor Nye makes me my meds, most people think I was assigned male, I don’t correct them. Mevolent, Nye, the Diablerie, some medical staff, some sensitives and Baron know the truth, Nye, Mevolent and Baron understand the best.”
“So a good support system then?” Dexter gestured with his fork. His voice hoarse and whisper-like.
Lyor smiled and looked at Baron. He had a hand on the back of their chair. He was wearing one of the outfits he had bought while in Jervis street, Lyor had complimented him many times on how he looked in it. Lyor looked at the two Dead men, “The best.”
The rest of the dinner was spent talking about the prospects of an alliance between dimensions, I give you my tech, you give me yours. It seemed China was willing to forgive enslaving mortal kind if Mevolent could buy her favour. Baron and Pleasant shook hands when they left.
The next day, Lyor and Baron packed their bags, they’d be leaving in the morning. They had a hundred books easily, movies, clothes, and a possible deal between the Supreme Mage and Lord Mevolent. So they spent the last night with Lyor showing Baron their personal world, they jumped from gay bar to gay bar. The first time Baron had ever met other trans people that wasn’t Lyor. He learned that he was very attractive to gay men, learning what the term ‘Bear’ meant. Some of the men complimented Baron on how attractive he and Lyor were as a couple. At first he denied and explained they were ‘co-workers’, but when people they were talking to probed, even joked about how Baron kept his hand on the back of Lyor’s chair. That statement rang hollow in other’s ears.
Lyor would hug Baron’s arm when the crowds pushed and shoved, Baron would order the drinks for them both. And as he talked to the other men they met, while Lyor went off with some of the other trans people. Baron realised he had not been just a co-worker, the smart comments the other Diablerie made, even a few comments from Lord Mevolent now had a grander context.
He watched them differently as they made their way back to the hotel on the Luis. He would nudge Lyor to be closer to him, away from the drunks and unsavoury groups. Then they went back to the hotel. Lyor changed in the bathroom, Baron changed into his own pyjamas, he stared out at the city lights. When Lyor came out of the bathroom, they were in their vest and shorts. Lyor blushed as they realised Baron was only in his pyjama trousers, his shirt clasped in his hands.
“Oh- Sorry,” They spluttered out. Baron turned to face them and his expression softened and he set down his shirt, “... Are you alright?” Lyor slowly approached him. He smiled, a somewhat sad smile as he looked at them.
“I have spent a lot of my life doing what was right,” He admitted. Lyor stood beside him, their silhouettes highlighted by the golden lights of Dublin, “Even when it came to Eliza… Odd to think, in all my life I never do anything for myself.”
“Some would say that makes you an incredible man.” Lyor smiled as they offered their support.
He chuckled and nodded. He noticed the way Lyor’s eyes traced his chest. Soaking in the sight of his muscles with a thick lair of grey hair, “Do you think I’m an incredible man?”
“... Absolutely,” Lyor said without a second thought. They blushed and stiffened as Baron cupped their cheek. The calluses were so familiar to Lyor at this point. Baron bowed himself to be eye-level with Lyor.
“I think you’re an incredible man too,” He leaned in close. He waited a beat for Lyor to pull away and when they didn’t. He kissed them. Their beards brushed together, Lyor melted and placed their hands on his shoulders. With the city of Dublin as their witness. When they pulled away, Lyor was silent before speaking in a quiet, trembling whisper.
“Are you… Sure? About me?” Their voice was quiet, fearful. Like Baron was going to suddenly push them away and be disgusted by them. He chuckled as he kissed their nose. He guided Lyor to the bed, tucking them in with gentleness Lyor hadn’t experienced… Ever. Bed time was always a ‘just get it over with’ event in their childhood. Baron got in beside him, the bed groaned and dipped under his weight.
“I don’t do anything unless I am sure.” He pushed hair away from Lyor’s face, adjusted the blankets so they’d be nice and warm, “And you, my bear cub, are something I am very sure of.”
Lyor laughed at that pet name as Baron settled into the bed, “Huh, ‘bear cub’- I really like that.”
“Well that's what you are. If I’m a bear and you’re the mini-me. You’re my bear cub.”
Lyor blushed and nodded. They both said goodnight, falling asleep side by side. In the morning, Lyor and Baron lazed in bed, talking about nonsense until Baron left to go shower. Lyor dragged themself out of bed, they showered and the two headed down for breakfast. Lyor was sat at the table and Baron got breakfast for both of them, their first boyfriend - Over 300 years their senior.
When Lyor and Baron returned to the dimension, they gave Mevolent books and different things. Lyor even got him a few shirts that fit him, which Lyor was very proud about. It was noticeable though, Baron treated Lyor differently now. He told Mevolent very bluntly that he and Lyor were in a relationship. Mevolent just made a few ‘about time’ comments but things continued as normal.
The sun filtered through the curtains. The king sized bed easily handled Baron’s bulk as he was sprawled out. It was a miracle seeing how Lyor was a snorer. Lyor was up, they were shirtless as they flicked through their phone. Mevolent trapped in the eternity gate 4 years ago, mortals returned to Roarhaven from the camps, China Sorrow’s headmistress of Roarhaven Academy and the studies of magical artefacts elective teacher was asleep beside Lyor.
Lyor gently scratched the two scars on their chest, weary of scratching the scar tissue too much. They only wore pyjama shorts these days. Lyor checked their usual news, mortal and magical. They padded into the bathroom. They washed their face, they became aware of the footsteps behind them. Strong, callous hands placed on their hips. They dried their face and stood, looking up at Baron. He kissed the back of their head.
“Happy 10th anniversary.” He whispered, Lyor paused. Oh. It wasn’t the 10th anniversary of them as a couple, no…
“Ten years on T, huh.” Lyor grinned. They turned their head and kissed him, their beards mingling despite Lyor’s being in a braid, “Guess I’m a real man huh?” The non-binary giggled. Baron pressed their foreheads together.
“You were always real to me, cub. A genderless being who my little human brain can only comprehend as the handsome ‘man’ before me.”
“You damn right I am.” Lyor placed their hands on their hips and grinned. Baron laughed.
Lyor couldn’t believe how loved they were, perhaps it was just a symptom of their magic.