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[credere]

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[credere]

"You're a new hedgehog dad," Credence says, more generously. "Why is he called Pope?"

[magician_king]

"I don't know. I just knew by looking at him."

He says, looking down at that serious little face, the upturned little nose.

"I need to get a book about this."

[credere]

"I'm sure the library has something."

He has yet to encounter a subject so obscure that the library didn't have at least one volume relevant to his needs.

[magician_king]

"Thank you."

He says, because that's a good point.

"Poor little thing."

[credere]

"The port seemed...pretty dangerous," Credence points out, rather understatedly. "Especially for something small like him. I think he's better off here with you."

[magician_king]

"I hid. Passed the fuck out, more specifically."

He admits, and draws in a shuddery breath.

"I am not drinking, and it is fucking bleak."

[credere]

"Is it really that bad? I - only in breaches. A couple times."

He has no idea what it's like to be drunk, hungover, in withdrawal. That all belongs to a world he's never set foot in.

[magician_king]

"It's not that it's bad."

He tries to explain, and flusters a little.

"It's more like- consciously putting your hand on a hot stove element. When shit hurts, and you know there's a way out, every minute where you don't is like holding your hand there by force of will."

[credere]

"I'm so sorry," Credence says, with the deep empathy of someone who quite possibly had no choice but to make prolonged contact with a hot stove of some point in his life. "Isn't there anything that would make it better?"

[magician_king]

"You're helping a lot."

He says, and smiles, quick and earnest.

"And yeah- let's do something busy."

[credere]

"Okay. So - what do you want to change in here?"

[magician_king]

"I'd like if it were cleaner. You still working on those spells?"

How rare, that they can present him with a genuine, hideous mess.

[credere]

"Oh - yes," Credence reaches for his wand. "I've got better at those, now."

Now he's found the sweet spot between just moving dust around and actually stripping paint off surfaces. He's becoming more aware of the raw power his spells are charged with.

[magician_king]

He watches, and feels himself smiling.

"You've come a long way from us setting your ceiling on fire. From you unable to say the m word."

[credere]

Credence smiles shyly in return.

"It's been nearly two years. I don't think I could have stayed the same all that time."

He still feels broken in some ways, but shifting toward coherence in others.

[magician_king]

"I'm glad you didn't try."

He says, and clears his throat.

"Okay. Hm hm, what comes after cleaning?"

[credere]

As if he has the first idea, but he can at least venture a guess.

"Painting? I suppose. What kind of colors do you want?"

[magician_king]

"White."

Always all the time everywhere.

"A couple of rooms need the wallpaper stripped down."

[credere]

Credence nods.

"I can do that. Are you going to want to change - I don't know, the door handles? The drapes?"

In those rooms that currently have either.

[magician_king]

"Oh no. I guess I need to decide about that."

Yikes, he bites his bottom lip.

"What's the difference between a good doorknob and a bad doorknob."

[credere]

"I think any kind is fine as long as it works," Credence says, sincerely, and informed by a history of households with nonfunctional door closures.

[magician_king]

"They all work. But I'd like some curtains."

But they'll have to figure them out.

"Next port. How's yours going?"

[credere]

"Um. Slowly, I guess. I've been doing a lot more work around the ship - you know, the dinner shift, our maintenance things."

It still feels selfish to be expending much effort on himself.

[magician_king]

"Let's do that interspersed with this."

He proposes, because;

"I want to learn more about this."

[credere]

Credence nods.

"I think I'd like....blue, for my room. And green, or yellow."

Light, outdoorsy colors.