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Dancer woke up close to evening and gave a tender smile when he felt Michael holding him. After a moment's thought, he carefully slid himself out of the bed without disturbing his lover to take care of a few things.

He cleaned himself up and got dressed then cleaned up the living room and left the rooms entirely to prepare a surprise for his lover. When everything was ready, he sat in the living room to wait for Michael to wake up, a basket waiting on the coffee table in front of him.

He was wearing a pair of beach shorts and a tanktop, both of them in a unique shade of blue-green that enhanced the colors of his eyes. His hair was in a simple braid and he was wearing a small smile as he waited in anticipation for Michael to wake up.

Dancer accepted the kiss with a pleased sound then gave Michael a teasing wink, "A surprise for you, of course. I'm just glad you slept long enough for me to get everything ready for it," he told him simply as he stood up and collected the basket.

He waited for Michael to get his shorts on then took his hand and pulled him towards the door, "Come on. I have a feeling you'll like this, lover..." he added as they headed out the door then left the castle entirely.

((Exit to the Beach))

Dancer laid on the bed and shook his head, "No. Rest is good. Someone will notice that we're here while we sleep and bring food in the morning," he said simply and stayed where he was for a moment. In truth, the transport had been warm, but pleasantly so. But it had also taken a bit out of Dancer since he was providing the direction and making sure that they didn't land on, or in, any of the furniture.

Thankfully, his four rooms were nicely done. Amir would love the bathroom, in particular, since it was modeled after the old Roman style baths with constantly circilating water and bathing oils instead of soaps. His living room was done in soothing tones, but that was mainly because that's where he met most of his patients and he needed a soothing atmosphere in there. But the crowning glory to his living room was the painting done of him and his fathers that he'd commisioned when he was about a hundred.

His bedroom was decorated in blues, greens, and browns with the impression of trees painted into the walls with a beach scene against one wall. But it was his other 'bedroom' that would raise Amir's eyebrows and make him blush... That was the 'playroom'... And Dancer'd had it furnished and decorated appropriately, complete with trunks of 'toys' all appropriately labeled from very light stuff to one trunk of silver cuffs, knives, and silver-tipped whips for more extreme play.

By the main door, there were a few weapons on the wall: two short swords, a collection of fighting daggers, several throwing daggers, and a Korean short bow with a quiver of the most dangerous arrows known to humans. So Dancer was a fighter when he needed to be. He loved sparring and frequently used that as an opening with some of his patients, getting them to open up so that he could heal them.

The only doors in his rooms were the main door, and the door to the playroom. For his bedroom, he only had a set of heavy curtains that were currently pulled back.

But that was for exploring later.

For now, Dancer finally got the energy to move and got himself further up on the full-sized bed and pulled the sheet over his hips, considered again then moved himself to the spot away from the doorway. That way Amir would be able to be the one to move around before him. He usually did it the other way around, but right now it felt right for someone else to have their back facing the door...

"Someone will bring up food in the morning. They'll set it up on the coffee table in the living room then leave us be. If you need to recharge, the door at the base of the tower opens up right into the garden. Or you can just open the shutters on the windows in the living room," he offered as he settled down into the bed and closed his eyes. He knew sleep would allow the healing he'd been given to settle in better before another session, so sleep was best for now.

At least, until Amir realized that these rooms were on the second floor and it was stairs the rest of the way down. And there was no elevator... Which meant that Dancer's arms and legs would need the next batch of focused healing if they were going to go anywhere else...

Dancer shook his head slightly, but accepted the healing, knowing that he didn't have much choice at the moment. But once Amir started to drift off, he looked up at the ceiling and gave a bittersweet smile over the fact that he was home, but without Michael...

He shook his head again, then simply closed his eyes and forced himself to sleep. As they slept, they wound up spooning with Amir behind Dancer.

The next morning brought a few surprises: on a chair beside the closet was a set of pants similar to Dancer's favorites as well as several more in different materials, all in Amir's size. On the coffee table in the living room were two trays of food perfectly suited for animal-shifter appetites, but cooked to mouth-watering perfection and set up on trays that would keep the meals warm.

Dancer stayed stubbornly in sleep's grasp for a while longer, though Amir probably had the quicker wake-up timing....

Dancer's body still remembered being held as he slept, a body curled around his protectively. So he gave a pleased murmur as he woke up, before memory and his body's condition fully hit him. Once it did, he gave a small frown before opening his mismatched eyes to look around and clear the sleep from his vision.

He saw Amir and his expression cleared as memory returned and he noted that it had to have been Amir in the bed with him. Fair enough. He didn't mind it. In truth, he'd never been bothered by casual nudity or the pleasures he liked, so he wasn't about to be bothered by it now. What bothered him was the condition of his body and the deep hurts of losing his loved ones.

He noted the tray Amir was holding and pushed himself to sit up with his back against the headboard, letting Amir set the tray over his lap as he rubbed at his face again, noting that his injuries were still not hurting and grateful for it. He gave a nod as Amir removed the cover and nodded again at the simple but hearty fare before him, heavy on the protein...

"Well, they've noticed us and decided to feed us..." he said softly, his voice still a bit rough but not unpleasantly so. He picked up a piece of bacon and noticed the stack of clothing on the chair and nodded again, "Seems my tailor likes you. He's very good at what he does and can even guess most measurements just by looking at you. How he guesses what you like, I have no idea," he added as he pushed his hair behind him.

He noted that it should have been braided before he slept, but he'd given up on taking care of it temporarily thanks to the maids in the demon realm. Here, he'd have to do it himself. And his hair fell to his knees...

He shook his attention back to the present and reached over his head to a hidden switch on the windowsill and pressed it to automatically open the shutters on the windows in his rooms, allowing the morning sun to warm them, "I got used to keeping them closed or I would have told you... Sorry... Some of my patients are vampires, so the sealed shutters were necessary... And Michael was a vampire..." he explained about the shutters, silently noting that he'd have to switch to a daytime schedule with Amir around him.

He finished the bacon and moved on to the sausage, noting that it was perfectly cooked. At least they'd remembered that he didn't like eggs...

He looked through the living room and noted that the door to his playroom was slightly open and had to give a teasing half-grin to Amir, "I've never been embarassed by what I like and I'm not about to be embarassed now. I put the playroom in and I've enjoyed it. Michael was a perfect dominant for me," he explained then had to give a softer smile over a very nice memory, "He liked to call me his bad kitty..." he said softly, even giving a soft laugh over the memory.

It might have been a little too much information for Amir, but it really did show him a huge portion of Dancer's personality. He really wan't ashamed or embrassed by anything he liked or did with his lovers. He'd never been anything but himself, he'd never apologized for that and he never would.

He got back to work on his food and finished it in short order, watching as Amir did the same with his own tray, "Just set them out in the hallway and someone will collect them," he directed, then closed his eyes as he caught the scent of the spray from the ocean below the tower.

He'd deliberately chosen the side of the tower that faced the cliff and the ocean, loving the smell of the ocean that came from below. And the occasional storm was truly glorious to watch from his living room windows! But for today, that meant that Amir got the pleasure of the full force ov the morning sun shining into the rooms...

Dancer listened and even smiled a few times. But when he was given that choice, he had to let out a long breath, "Gods I hate that... I've said it too many times, I guess," he said to himself then considered the process carefully.

Three or four weeks, or three or four days...

Slow healing, or fast...

He knew what would likely happen with the fast option. He'd seen it too many times in the past to not know. He'd get rapid healing, but have a few side effects with it that were unavoidable.

With the slow option, his body would be able to process the healing better, and put less stress on his body.

Either way...

He looked up at Amir, knowing that there was a third option but that he wasn't healed up enough for that one. So that still left him with options one and two. Still, option three was hard to pass up, despite the potential pain it would give him to use it...

He shook his head and got it out of the gutter then delivered his answer, "I think we'd better go with the faster option... I'll deal with muscle spasms and a few other side effects that cannot be avoided with rapid-healing, but I have a feeling that we need me up and moving sooner rather than later," he said, unable to explain his choice better than that. What he could feel couldn't be explained, only felt. And feelings were notoriously difficult to explain...

Dancer nodded, knowing full well the side effects he'd have to deal with, but felt that they were tollerable if he could heal faster. Then he had to give a teasing smirk, "Then we'll have to get me into a pair of shorts and you'll have to carry me downstairs," he pointed out, thinking that it would try Amir a bit to do both tasks but unable to keep from teasing him about it.

Sometimes... Sometimes Amir was able to get him to forget for a little bit, to push the pain back and make an attempt at being himself again...

He gestured to his closet, "Just grab something and I"ll get dressed. Then we should probably brush and braid my hair so that it's out of the way. After that, we can head downstairs," he laid it out, knowing that it wouldn't take long.

He got himself to the edge of the bed and accepted the shorts from Amir then got them on, his brush was still on the dresser. He could stand. He could walk as well, he was just very slow right now. He would have to be carried down the stairs, but he was determined to be on his feet when he took care of his hair at the very least...

Dancer had to smile when he took the brush from the male, "Amir... You can be attracted to someone... You just don't always have to act on it... It's actually complimentary to let others know you're attracted and that you find them attractive. It's acting on it that seems to have gotten you into trouble," he offered, knowing that helping the male was going to try his own patience and control the longer they were together.

Still, it seemed that they were supposed to help each other, so Dancer wouldn't pass it by.

In helping each other, they could heal each other as well as themselves...

As long as his hair was, it took him a bit of work to get it brushed out then braided down. So he was certainly going to need the help to get downstairs.

"Come on. Let's go show you the crowning glory of Sebastet's home," he teased the male a bit as he slowly made the way towards the door and only then let Amir carry him downstairs and into the Castle Garden...