[MythicDusk]

After a while, Rexus trudged in, knocking dry mud off his boots that he hadn't been able to remove the day before on the doorstep. He shrugged off his coat, to ward against the enroaching winter. He pulled off his boots, a tune playing soundlessly in his head as he padded across the kitchen floor, wrapping his arms around Atlas with a smile.

'Need shower'

His fingers wrote quickly on Atlas' chest, before smoothing away the letters with his palm and pulling away, placing another kiss on Atlas' cheek. With that, he trudged up the stairs for one of his short showers, after nabbing a piece of toast to eat on the way.

After a few munites, Rexus returned looking refreshed, his damp hair hanging in his eyes and stubble coating his jaw. He placed his dirty clothes in the hamper, beaming with pride and joy, obviously having seen how Atlas had unpacked.

[Mousen]

Atlas shifted uncomfortably under Rexus' gaze. "Don't look at me like that for being a normal human being." A standard which he often fell far below, sure, but that didn't mean Rexus had to look at him like he was the luckiest person on the planet.

No, Atlas felt that role rather belonged to him. One or two minor inconveniences aside, that was.

A shadow crossed his face for a moment, and the display of birds behind him fell back into the shade. "I want to go back to see my family, Rex. I've messed up, badly, but I can't not go and see Zari after she's gotten engaged. It's not safe to go back there, my mother lives in the same forest as the circus. She'd know the minute I stepped foot there. I tried to back, when the hounds were... I just wanted to see my dad." He sighed, wrapping his hands around his mug of tea. "We need a plan to face her, here, out in the plains."

[MythicDusk]

Rex felt his face fall at Atlas' mention of his family and how he would have to fight to see them, and he nodded sharply, moving to sit at the table.

'Freya will be home soon. She can help us. She has connections and friends.' He licked his lips carefully as he flexed his fingers. 'I won't let you go without seeing your family for a single day longer than you need to.' As he signed this, he already felt plans spinning in his head. He would have to find that old map of the plains that Freya kept in the attic.

He carefully licked his lips again, signing without hesitation. 'I will keep you safe.'

[Mousen]

It seemed so typical that now he was ready to go back and face his issues there was something more than just his anxieties keeping him from home. He thought about what Rexus was saying and nodded in understanding. It would be easier to not have to fight this alone, sure... but he wasn't sure what Freya's friends could do about this. He had made an error in judgement walking through the faery roads, spending time with the courts, without making an official visit. (Equally, making an official visit would have been madness of a different sort.)

He had been rude, in the eyes of the faery courts, not shown his mother due diligence. She was within her rights to make him suffer, but... she was his mother and he had not heard anything from her in years. Not on his birthdays, or when she'd stepped out from the faery roads. In many ways, she was as guilty as he was! Besides, he'd never been officially received into any of the courts as her son, just a struggling traveller and it had been their duty to help him. She ought to have been thanking the courts for offering their assistance.

Atlas went to speak and stopped himself, signing instead. "I think I know what to do. We need to face her directly. We need-" his hands wavered and he slipped back into speech. "Back up. Sorry. Um, do you know anyone used to dealing with faeries? I've got a plan."

[MythicDusk]

Rexus crossed his arms across his chest for a moment, thinking. He tapped a beat on his own muscle as he thought, the movement slowly moving to his foot as he wracked his brain. He began chewing nervously on his bottom lip, unable to think of any names off the top of his head.

Except for well, them, but the less said about them was the better. He thought of the stories friends had told, of the people that Freya knew. Of the man with glowing eyes and scarred palms, of the guardian spirit with fuzzy edges, wild hair and an axe that could decapitate a man with half a stroke. He thought of the stories of a woman made of ice, of a man with magma spewing down his shirt, of a man with thunder in his voice, of the woman with light in her pores.

Eventually, he groaned, running his fingers through his hair and sitting heavily on the seat, his eyes still tight shut as he tried to figure out which were real and which were simply stories.

Slowly, he ran his hands down his face, signing slowly, with intent.

'I don't, but Freya may.'

[Mousen]

"Can we call her?" he signed. "If we can find someone to help us, I think I can make my mother agree to leave us alone. She won't like it, but when faeries make agreements they stick to them. My mother can no longer claim that I belong with her. I've been of age long enough that any agreement like that is-" he started to sign a word and wiped it away with his hands. He spelled it out instead. "Voided. Her only problem is my conduct when I went into the faery roads and didn't pay her my respects. However, if I can make things right here and now, and have a few people to back us up in case things get hairy, she should no longer have any claim on me. What do you think?"

Atlas didn't truly know if it would work or not, but it was the best thing they had to work with currently. If he could make some gift to her, show her some sign of respect and use that politeness to make her relinquish her hold on him, then he could go back to his normal life. Well, he could go back to his new life with Rexus. He'd finally be able to go back home, too.

[MythicDusk]

Rexus shook his head gently at the question of calling Freya, beginning to move his hands to sign before simply sighing, his shoulders hunching. He didn't know anything about stuff like this. He felt useless.

'Whatever you think is best.' It was all he cpuld bring himself to sign, the knowledge of how little he could do weighing around him, like an iron chain.

'All I can really do is ask Freya for help and love you.' He gave a slight smile at that thought. He didn't want to show Atlas how he was fairly sure it wasnt enough, that he would never be enough.

After all, he was just a guard dog without a bark.

[Mousen]

Atlas looked at Rexus and frowned, his expression creeping into worry. "I know you didn't sign up for any of this stuff, Rexus. I'm sorry. But trust me, I really think we can beat her."

Perhaps he was being optimistic, but after weeks of fear and worry he finally felt like he might have a way through this. Sure, it was reliant on the fact that they could find someone Tova wouldn't just set her hounds on, but surely between everyone they knew they'd be someone who could help them. "It took me awhile to notice through all her scare-tactics, but she's pushing what's acceptable even within an unseelie court. I truly seem to her her first born, and I'm by all accounts her heir. She accepted me as legitimate herself, she said so. 'My eldest son', remember? You do not send out the hunt after your heir, Rexus. It's not done.  Even if she has a bigger plan, there's things she's pushing in our favour. By nearly killing me, she's given all the courts near us an opportunity to show sympathy.We just need to dig up some help. I could... I could even as my father if I need to. The circus knows everyone."

[MythicDusk]

Rexus listened carefully, his fingers tracing his silent lips for a moment. It made sense, more than anything his head was spinning, deperate for a handhold in a world he didn't know.

Slowly, he moved his hands from the table, his signs slow and purposeful. 'It isnt that I didn't sign up for it.' He paused for a moment, his fingers flexing. 'I'm out of my depth.' He licked his lips, his broe furrowing as he tried to find the right words.

'I'm scared, Atlas. I'm scared I can't keep you safe.' All he knew was the farmyard. His world began with how to care for a horse and ended with how to care for a chicken. This was something seperate from his world.

[Mousen]

Atlas looked at him, biting his lip in worry. But he moved over to him and wrapped his arms around his waist. "We'll be okay," he said. "I really think we can sort this out. The best way you can protect me is just by being here." He stopped to consider something. "And maybe by keeping the iron poker by the front door."

He was surprised at his own change in attitude, but the events of the past few days had solidified his fear into something useful. He knew there was no avoiding it now, no running away. He could torture himself, or he could wait to see how things unfolded. Rexus, his sturdy presence in his life over the past few weeks, was grounding. There was no way he'd be able to to this alone.

He stood on his tip toes, angling his head to kiss Rexus.

[MythicDusk]

Rexus listened carefully, his briw furrowed as he thought about the words that Atlas spoke, as he internalised and held on to them with his entire soul. Eventually, he just nodded slowly. Maybe him just being here was enough.

When he saw how Atlas moved, he felt the anxiety and worry deep in his chest soften, felt it relax its vice grip around his heart. He bowed his own head, pressing his lips chastely and sweetly against Atlas'.

He moved his hands, gentle motions up Atlas' side, a gentle touch to his cheek and neck. He felt his shoulders relax.

It would be okay.

[Mousen]

Atlas smiled into the kiss, everything Rexus did brought a kind of lightness to him. A stillness around which everything else spun. He could almost believe that he was the version of himself that Rexus deserved and that spread out before them was what maybe a lifetime, but definitely today and the next, and the next, and the next.

"I think your toast has gone cold," he said. "But I did make breakfast."

He moved away from Rexus, to shove a slice of buttered toast into his mouth. "Hmph. Cold." He shrugged and continued eating.

"Was there anything you needed to do today?"

[MythicDusk]

Rexus stood for a moment, grabbing a piece of toast and biting into it, preparing his hands to sign as he thought. Before he could materialise any thoughts, the front door slammed open.

"Rex! I'm home! You still around or have you run off with your boytoy already?"

His head snapped towards the front door, his breath catching in his throat as a smile started creeping across his lips. He watched as the older woman, in her late thirties, walked in with her arms laden with bags of luggage and what appeared to be gifts.

Freyja had tied her hair back, her dark eyes flicking between the two men before a grin split her face as she placed down the bags, to be carried to her room later.

"You must be Atlas! Stealing my best farmhand away from me, you devil." She joked as she blustered past, eyeing up the toast before snatching a slice and biting into it as her brow wrinkled.

"Don't you hate it how toast goes chewy when its cold? Hey, Rex, why is there iron everywhere?"

'Trouble with faeries.'

"Want me to make some calls?"

'Please.'

Freyja nodded lightly, motioning to Rexus for a moment. "You got any injuries in your paws or feet? Any horn chippings? Are your horns overgrowing?"

Rexus answered each question with patience, throwing an apologetic look to Atlas.

[Mousen]

Atlas's eyes widened at the sound of the door, relaxing only slightly when he realised who it was. Freyja. For all he'd heard about her, he'd never been quite sure of what to expect when he finally saw her in the flesh. He froze as she greeted him, surprised at her cheerful tone. He had not been expecting... well he hadn't been sure. He didn't really expect her to just walk in and demand that he account for his behaviour, or for her to treat him like some kind of criminal.

Atlas normally prided himself on his people skills, his charm, but he was finding it in particularly short supply. "That's right," he managed, returning her smile with a hesitant one of his own. "You must be Freyja, right? Rexus told me about you."

He watched her fuss over Rexus and was somehow reminded of Mort. The way he'd look over Atlas in a panic whenever he came home late, as if checking to make sure he wasn't missing any pieces.

[MythicDusk]

Freyja just gave a slow, sickeningly polite smile to Atlas, as if the memory of every sleepless night rolled over her at once. "Don't worry Atlas, I know a lot about you too. We'll have al ong conversation later." She motioned to Rex to approach, who gave Atlas another apologetic look.

'I'll put in a good word for you' was all he managed to sign before he shifted forms, sitting at Freyja's feet with a happy whine, panting with delight as she began to push through his fur, murmuring gently about ticks and fleas, pulling a face as she pulled one from the base of his horns.

"I hope you're ready to do routine tick checks, Atlas. I have no idea how it works, but he doesn't get any fleas or ticks in his human form, but he's always got them in his albie form- roll over." The last words were spoken to Rexus, who obediently rolled onto his back, his face slack and happy as Freyja began to push apart his paw pads, looking for injuries on the webbing.