They never stopped searching for distant relatives. It wasn't a particularly hopeful search, but just the possibility was enough to be worth the cost. It was part of their budget. Every year since the disaster, there was at least some attempt to find a lost branch across the worlds. There had been various levels of success. And as the years passed, the chance decreased, but they kept trying.

There is a new lead and since he was closer, Temple is sent to investigate. He asks for one of his not-that-complicated-but-are-we-really-boyfriends-? for help and Felix volunteers.

Felix agrees with Thomas that not dressing like a MIB for the occasion is a missed opportunity, but disagrees that it is enough of a missed opportunity. Instead, they rent a car go to the address, identifying the potential distant-relatives. Then they cast a divination spell and search for a set of twins that might or might not have magic.

The divination reveals a set of magic twins! One is gifted - with two gifts. He has much more lifeforce than most humans, but his Health is extremely depleted.

The other has no gift, but his lifeforce is augmented as well - moreso than the first.

Temple and Felix are observing them from a distance. "Oooh, they already know about magic."

"That didn't show up in the detective's report?"

"Not necessarily? Oh, yeah, it's strange that there are no notes indicating that they had contact with people who are in the know."

"Could be like Henry - which, wow, lets hope is not that. Specially with two gifts. Any idea which ones?"

"This scrying does not have that much granularity. But at least we don't have to convince them that magic is real. The gifted one definitely has a health-gift, just looking how skinny he is."

"Alright. Maybe we should get a bit more warded and come back later for the reveal."

They depart and come back an hour or so later.

They live on the top floor of an apartment building. It's not exactly nice, but it's not terrible, either. As they approach the apartment they might be able to hear someone half-shouting through the door. 

"-gonna fucking kill yourself if you keep this up, James!" 

'James' says something in reply, quiet, hard to make out under the music also audible. 

"I get it, Jay. You need to ease up, though. Don't make me bury you, damn it." 

Flinch. "Yeah, lets... interrupt that."

They are interruptable. A knock at the door brings one of them to answer it - the non-gifted one, going by the healthy state of his body. 

"What?" He asks the two strangers at the door. He's not really in the best mood, but he does his best to push back his anger and frustration, putting a neutral expression on, if not a pleasant one. 

"Huh, sorry to interrupt. But are you two Alexei and James Starr? We might be related and wanted to talk."

"...Alex," he says, neutrality wiped away by mildly confused, slightly suspicious surprise. "James is my brother. Related?" His face goes through a couple subtle expressions, "This... isn't really the best time." 

He glances back into the apartment, lips twisting in frustration. 

"...You know what, no, come in," he says, turning back to them. He steps away, waving them through the door. 

"Thank you." Temple says letting himself and Felix in. "We are only very distantly related, but we have been trying to contact all the possible relatives. I can explain."

"I am not actually a relative, I just came here to help Temple with the situation. I am Felix Vaesteri."

"Oh, right. I am Temple Grayward."

"Nice to meet you, I guess." 

Just inside the door is a small space for shoes with a closet for coats to the left. He doesn't ask them to take theirs off, just leads them down the hall to the right and into a small living room. 

The other one is on the couch inside, reclining such that he takes up the whole thing. When he sees them come in, he pulls his legs up to leave room on the couch. Alex settles there, waving the visitors to sit wherever - there's another couch and a couple beanbag chairs in the room. 

"Hey," he greets sunnily. 

He's just as skinny as their divination had shown - not skeletal, but you could definitely see his ribs if he was shirtless. 

"What's this about long lost relatives?" 

(Concerning!)

He puts his best smile. "Yeah, distant, but I have a genealogical survey that points for us to be related." Not to mention that naturalborn sorcerers are just too rare for it to be a coincidence. "But we have been trying to find all the surviving branches of the family."

"What for? Just curiosity, or what?" 

Deep breath. Band-aid rip off. At least one knows about magic and the other suspects of something amiss. "No. We need it because magic is real, and we need to find relatives for magic reasons."

"I was expecting you to take a bit longer than that."

"Well, we knew that magic was real," he says after a moment's surprised pause. 

"What sort of magic reasons?" Alex asks, wary. 

"We knew that you knew."

"Complicated reasons. Our family has a source of power which only works for male members of the bloodline. It gets unstable of there are not enough of us and a few years back most died during a family reunion. My father cheated on his wife to have more kids so the thing didn't go completely out of control. But we are still searching."

"How...? Oh," he looks down at himself, "I guess if this is a normal side-effect-" 

"It clearly isn't, Jay," he says, distracted from Temple's words by this clear idiocy, "They look fine, you're just an idiot with no sense of moderation." 

The two are a bit uncomfortable. "Can you explain what is this?" he waves at James' self. "My first guess is that you're overusing a health gift."

"Is that what it's called? I can control - fluids, basically. Liquids, gasses." He pauses, "It lets me fly." 

"He uses it too much, yeah. I try to tell him," he glares at his brother, "But-" he runs a frustrated hand through his hair. 

He shrugs, "It's fine," he insists. 

"Your brother is just concerned about you and you do look concerning."

"Why are you using it too much?"

Uncomfortable silence for a moment.

"He couldn't climb or run much, after he first got the powers," Alex explains for him, "And then he just kept using it. Even when it was obviously making him sick." 

"I can't just - not. If I can't even freerun - and there's something about flying-" he's frustrated by his inability to explain. 

"Oh, your gift might not be efficient for flight. You could learn a ritual version. Those typically spend stamina and then you are just tired like you've just run a lot. Instead of being weak."

"We both happen to have brothers with stamina-based flight, and they can use it all the time with no ill-effects."

"There's magic you can learn without-" he curls his shoulders in a bit. 

Alex shifts closer to him, pressing against his side, "Yeah, tell me there's a way to learn this besides-" he grimaces. 

"Without what? We partially came here to give you a magic overview alongside some offers to come with us."

"Hm. You wouldn't be this casual about it if learning to do the magic you're offering usually takes torture," he admits, tone dark. 

"That sounds nice?" Jamie says, arms clasped tight around himself, trying to move past that topic, "The magic overview. We'd have to think about moving anywhere." 

"Torture?"

Temple raises a hand. "Let's... uh, drop the topic, Felix." At least for now. "But typically, learning and using magic is... relatively safe. Safer than what you two have managed, but that's a given if you don't have any formal education." He almost makes it a question. "So, first thing, magic originates from another world called Elsewhere. It's not a regular world, more like a pocket dimension, but the size of Russia. It sometimes attaches itself to other worlds and people in that world starts being born with extra lifeforce. The four of us are example of those people."

He curls in a bit more at Felix's question, and then uncurls as Temple explains. 

"Another world?" He asks, brightening a bit at the idea. 

"The four of us - I have it as well?" 

"We checked before talking to you. Uh, sorry for spying on you."

"It sometimes skips a generation, but it's hereditary. And yeah, there are others, Elsewhere is the hub, but there are four others. I can explain them in a bit, if you don't mind?"

"Uh- how long have you been spying on us?" He asks, apprehensive.

"Oh, we only took a look at you this afternoon, and we have someone looking for distant relatives all the time, but they only caught any sign of you a couple of months ago. They didn't follow you around or anything, it was more like, spelunking through documents. Or so I am told."

He's suddenly very glad he's been pissed at Jamie all afternoon. 

"Sure, I don't mind waiting for world explanations until after the magic lecture," Jamie cuts in, turning back to the previous topic.

"Alright, so some people start being born with extra lifeforce. This means that they are healthier - under normal conditions - and can live longer and other benefits. Including having an easier time using sorcery, the name of the kind of magic. So, sorcery uses lifeforce aspect's as fuel. There are five aspects in humans: Breath, Stamina, Wakefulness, Health and Youth. One can develop gifts that are fueled by each of those aspects, suffering the expected consequences of spending breath or wakefulness. Except Youth, aspects regenerate over time. Gifts are convenient because they tend to only require mental actions to activate, unlike the other side of sorcery: Rituals. Which are a set of actions that when used properly and with the right intent, will generate a magical effect. Rituals are not limited to a single lifeforce aspect, but require more set up to be done at all and may fail if something about the set up is wrong. With me so far?"

"Yeah," Alex says, leaning forward and listening intently. 

"So I've got a Health gift and a- Breath gift?" He asks. "Shortness of breath is the consequence, right?" He doesn't use it much - he doesn't like the feeling of 'not enough oxygen'. 

"Exactly. Stamina causes a sense of being tired from physical effort, but without being connected to your body. Wakefulness steadily makes you feel like you haven't slept in a while. And Youth causes you to age faster. It may also cause cancer, but that's pretty rare."

"What does your Breath gift do?"

"This, basically," he says, to Felix specifically - it sounds like a whisper and is inaudible to everyone else in the room. "It lets me whisper to anyone in sight without anyone else hearing," he adds normally. 

"Oh, what would we call that... Voice projection or something? Useful."

"Guess so - I don't use it all that much, since Alex is the only one I'd whisper to." 

He looks back to Temple, waiting for him to continue. 

He takes the clue.

"Okay, so continuing the discussion on magic. Our ancestors created a magic effect - we call it a lifeforce vault - you could say it's a magical place where they could store gifts and even lifeforce itself. And it's even possible to create monsters that have the stored gifts to fight for us. But the thing is only stable if there are enough users around. And only allowed users are men that belong to our family through blood. As I mentioned earlier a lot tied during a family reunion twenty or so years ago. Now the thing is unstable. It spits out monsters every other month and if someone besides us fights them, killing the monster drains the lifeforce of the surrounding area."

"Well. That sounds... horrible. And that's why you came looking for us?" 

"Why only the men?" 

"Oh. Sexism, there is no reason why it would need to be our bloodline instead of people with the password or something." He answers Alexei before turning to James. "And yeah, there is more that you need to know, but that is the pressing personal reason. We have found other distant branches in the past few years. I met Felix, because a cousin of ours was co-apprenticing alongside him."

He huffs at the first reply, annoyed, "Of course." 

"What do you need from us, then, exactly?" He's willing to give up a lot to get Jamie a different way to fly - and he wouldn't say no to magic of his own, either. He'd say yes, actually. With quiet enthusiasm.

"The absolute barest minimum is hearing a full lecture on magic safety, generally keep a line of communication open so we know you are alive and if you have any children to keep us informed about that. Ideally, you would want to come with us and get attuned to the lifeforce vault and make a visit to Elsewhere - it takes sorcerers that have never been there before, which is related to why magic is a secret."

"Well. We'll definitely take the safety lecture," he gives James a look. 

"Hey, I'm not doing this because I like the side-effects," he says. "I'd be happy if I could do it another way." 

He huffs. 

"We probably shouldn't commit to going with you right off the bat," he continues. 

"Yeah, and... I mean, we don't have anyway to know that's actually all you want?" 

They haven't even actually demonstrated any magic, for one thing. 

"I mean, that's fair. But we are willing to not rush into things."

"We would rather that you would also not to go about shouting that magic exists from the rooftops."

He frowns, "Don't worry, we won't." He has no idea how he'd go about believeably revealing that magic exists without getting Jamie locked in a lab or something, so they don't have to worry about that, at least. 

Still, though, "Why is it a secret?" 

"Remember what I said about Elsewhere taking naturalborn sorcerers? In case you thought it was kidnapping, it is not... rather the world itself just teletransports them to itself, sometimes other people are dragged along. When new lines of Earth sorcerers were still popping up a couple of centuries ago, moving between worlds was harder and likely to land you on some random continental mass. And it was expensive just getting to Earth. All the while they would be plenty of people going 'oh, that's so sad that you are missing your family but have you considering meeting my pretty daughter and remarring?'."

"And even if they did return any children they had afterwards would suffer the same deal. Not to mention the issues that arise from you living longer than everyone around you."

"Yeah, sorcery is hereditary but dilutes. So a full sorcerer could easily outlive their children unless they married another sorcerer. Anyway, this lead to a situation where the number of people that know about the magic and that live on Earth being officially on the three digits."

"But you said it's been centuries - surely there's some way to roll out a reveal more safely, now?" 

"Also, I'm guessing not every naturalborn sorcerer is transported over? Or did it just not get to us, yet?" 

"It did not get you yet, but it will eventually. Which isn't that terrible, nowadays, you would just need find other people, and they would bring you back. It takes a week or two, which is not nothing, but better than several years."

Sigh. "There are people that use the fact that Earth is unaware of magic to make profit. And they are generally afraid of the government and our industrial base - Elsewhere and attached worlds were not as advanced and are still trying to catch up."

"I guess the second one is reasonable, but-" he huffs, "People are people everywhere, I guess." It's very frustrating. 

Jamie leans into him. 

"So if we go with you to Elsewhere, will it still sorcerer-nap us if we come back?" He asks. 

"No, sorry. Visiting it even once prevents it from happening again."

"I'd call it more of a bonus than a drawback - I guess it could be fun and interesting to be kidnapped by another world, but I think I'd rather go without having been forced to."

"Are we going, then?" He asks, eyebrow raised. 

"Well yeah, I mean, if we'd be going either way. I can stop using my gift to fly, you can get magic - don't even try to tell me you don't want it," he adds, grinning.

Well, he's not wrong.

"Fly is amazing. I like my gift set and everything, but it's one of the gifts I would have liked the most to have acquired."

"My power is better than flight, but Fernando - my brother - sure makes it tempting."

"Better than flight?" He repeats, "I call shenanigans. Unless it's like..." he pauses, thinking. Shapeshifting, maybe?

"...No, you know what, I stand by that. I can't think of a better power." 

"Are giftsets... do they fit the person? Or are they just random?" Jamie's fits him but that could just be coincidence. 

"The current best theory is that you mold them into what you want, but molding them is a skill and every person only has five tries." Shrug.

"I have super-speed. It means that while everyone else takes several minutes to set up rituals I can set them up in the blink of an eye."

"...Ok, that does sound pretty great," he admits. Still, given the choice? 

"Well, that's inconvenient."

He pauses, "You weren't done with the magic lecture, right?" They just got sidetracked. 

"Oh, not the safety lecture part. Would you rather have that now or continue talking about Elsewhere and the rest of the multiverse and everything?"

He glances at Jamie, "How about we do safety first," he says. 

"Aw." But he doesn't argue. 

"Can't blame you."

There is a quick side lecture about how ritual sorcery works. The rituals are separated into schools which are comparable to programing languages, determined set of actions, symbols or objects will have different meanings and effects. One just need to know part of a schools' effects to be able to cast from it. And it's possible to be wrong and thus commit mistakes. So always double check your work. More applicable to sorcery gifts, it's important to be careful and treat magic with care. Don't do magic drug or otherwise mentally afffected, be careful, and don't overuse so much that it can impact your well-being.

He is not even trying to be pointed at James. He appears to be quite glad to just talk about magic.

Temple is cute and Felix pets his hair.

Alex does give Jamie a pointed look when Temple reaches that part of the lecture, but is otherwise focused on his words.

"How do you... activate? Gifts?" He asks after - If not through the method they already know something about. 

(Aww! They're both cute!)

"You do some meditation exercises meant to 'move' your lifeforce around. Kinda like developing a muscle. You can technically extrapolate from what it feels like from using your current gifts but it's easier and safer if you have help."

"I don't actually want to hurt myself," he says, a little annoyed by all the mentions, even if they aren't meant to be pointed. He shakes it off. 

"Can we see a ritual? Or even try one - not Health based, of course." 

"Of course, can even be the flight one."

"Do you usually fly indoors or do you have a place to take off?"

He grins, excited, "We have a little balcony," he says, waving towards the door across the room on his right, "I usually take off from there - I fly at night, usually, and people don't really look up." 

"They really don't. In that case we can do a flying ritual that requires a minimum of instruments or set-up... Do you want to go first, Alexei?"

"Yes" he says. For several reasons.

(Jamie makes a face at him, also for several reasons. Alex pretends he didn't see.)

He scoots up to the edge of the couch, ready to stand, "What does it involve, exactly?" 

Temple stands and pulls some notes. Flipping through them. "From memory. Some chanting and drawing symbols on your skin in either blue or purple sharpie. Well, something blue or purple, the person who invented this specific spell assumed that blue and purple paint was going to remain expensive forever, luck for you they are wrong."

"Did they want it to be exclusive or something?" He asks, standing up, "And where on my skin, exactly, do I need to get undressed for this." This day has been weird since these two showed up but getting naked in front of them so they could cover him in sharpie would be a new level of it. Not that he won't do it, but.

"This particular one wanted that, yeah. Sometimes it's surpestition. You only need to remove your shirt, there is a rune that needs to go on your chest, the other symbols can be placed freely, but I am likely to just write them there anyway since I am already at it."

"Alright - should we wait for nightfall?" he asks, looking over at where the dim light of the evening falls through the wall-length window. "So I can fly outside." 

"Yeah, better if we do that."

"We never got around actually explaing Elsewhere, or Elan, and all the other E-worlds."

(Alex sits back down.)

"Ooo - wait, they all have E names? How'd that happen?" 

Shrug. "There is a language from Elan where E it's used as a prefix for a world or planet names."

"Huh, so it's more like World-Lan? World-Lsewhere," he snorts. 

"I'm guessing we'll need to learn some other languages to fit in there," Alex comments/asks. 

"Pretty much. Well, the word for Elsewhere is different, but the English translation convention ended up following along."

"Translation magic is a thing."

He shrugs, "I'll still want to learn it, though."

"What are they like? The other worlds." 

"Oh, let's start with Elsewhere. I think I mentioned that's like a pocket dimension? The place it's like a flat continent floating amidst nowhere. Two miles thick most places and with crystals on the underside, they generate gravity and atmosphere."

"There is no sun in moon. The stars are also crystals, and can be adjusted to simulate the day-night cycle. That is part of my job, actually. Me and my brothers manage magical infrastructure in a small town. Elsewhere is very clearly artificial, but the origins are unknown, there are ruins that are dated from tens of thousands years ago, and we are pretty sure some disaster caused a mass extinction which is why all there was to be found were ruins."

"Huh. If someone had ever asked me what I thought the first real other world I ever heard of would be like, I would not have guessed anything like that." 

"Those precursors - did they came from Elsewhere, or did they make the place, and actually come from... somewhere else?" He asks, curious. "Or is there no way to tell?" 

They make a show of shrugging. "We only have theories. Two of the known worlds have been attached to Elsewhere since the ancient times and likely got caught by the same thing that caught the Elsewhere people - there is only ruins there, and very little life."

"Most likely, Elsewhere is the result of a ritual or someone's gift and sorcery ritual. And sorcery originated from a regular planet in a regular universe."

"Do some of the other worlds have other kinds of magic?" 

Nods. "Though sorcery is the best by far. Anyway, so something mysterious happened thousands years ago and as Elsewhere just stayed empty until about four centuries ago when it started annexing Elan, a world not dissimilar to Earth, it has humans, and some of their humans have a magical ability called Synth. It lets alter the traits of living things. Not a super-dramatic way where you can just create chimeras of any two creatures, but it does things like improving crops and augmenting people."

"Augmented people are taller, stronger and longer lived. My other boyfriend is one. And the two of us are partially augmented... do they have Elan ancestry?"

"Oh, they do. Shocking news, you guys are part-alien. Except, not really."

He's still processing 'other boyfriend' when Temple mentions the last bit.

(Interesting how casually Felix mentioned it - is that just these two, or is their society more open about poly? It would be nice if it was the latter - if he was ever going to date someone they'd have to be fine with polyamory anyways, along with some... other things.)

He is quickly distracted from this train of thought, however. 

"What does that mean for us, that we're... part-augmented?"

"At your level, probably not that much? Just a tiny bit of strength and extra lifeforce. I think."

"Sorry, no super-powers from the yellow-sun."

"Damn," Jamie laughs, "Though I figure we would have noticed by now if we were off-brand Kryptonians!" 

"Are part-augments unusal? Or do people have kids with people from other worlds pretty freely?" 

"Do you want to talk about it, Felix?"

"I mean, you shouldn't feel that you should pass the ball, but I can explain. Part-augmented are not unusual, but there is... History to it? Not everyone from Elan is fully augmented, in fact most people are classified as not-augmented despite everyone having at least a tiny bit of it from distant ancestors. And the topic is quite relevant if we continue explaining the history of the worlds. Temple mentioned that annexing Elan, at the time in one of its continents part-augmented people are ostricized by both fully augmented nobles and the non-augmented lower class. And the only people that would accept part-augmented were the followers of this religion called the Daliath. To the point that the two groups simply merged. Which didn't made them any better treated. When naturalborns sorcerers started showing up because of Elsewhere the Daliath soon started developing gifts at an unusual rate because of how badly they are treated."

"Also, full-augmentation does something to one's lifeforce such that it becomes dangerous to use for sorcery. That doesn't affect partial-augments."

"Yup. And long story short. Daliaths that went to Elsewhere, managed to discover sorcery rituals and how to return to Elan. They used these advantages to topple the nobility and ruin their empire."

"...It sort of sounds like they deserved it, especially if they were treating them so badly they were developing gifts." His eyes dart to Jamie. 

He ignores the glance, "Are you two Daliath, then, or, I guess it's probably been long enough that not all part-augments are anymore." 

The two very obviously ignore Alexei's comment.

"I am ethnically Daliath, but I was raised on Earth. Temple is not Daliath, but I could see someone calling him that for... racist reasons."

"Oh, I'm sorry," he says to Temple, "I didn't mean to be rude." 

(Alex will just be ignored, then. That's fine, saying the exact wrong thing is a bit of a recurring problem, he's used to it. He'll just be over here remembering that most invasions involve a lot of innocents suffering and dying.)

"So," Jamie says, pulling the conversation away from this topic, "Elan, Earth, Elsewhere... what about the others? How many are there?"

"Huh? Nah, I am cool. And total of six, two of which are boring. Epoch and Exile, which are the ones that have been part of the Elsewhere cluster of worlds since ancient times. Exile has very little complex life to the point of being nicknamed 'Mossball'. So remains of its inhabitants showed that they are likely human with weird proportions and maybe some physical boost related to the proportions. Epoch has even less life and also gets the matching nickname of 'Dustball', oxygen levels there are low, you wouldn't die right away but any research settlements needs some help. They also have these crystals that might or might not be sorcery in origin that store memories."

"So whichever world sorcery came from, it's either one of those or it's gone?" 

He pauses, then adds, "How varied do gifts even get? If you can have something like 'creating a whole other world'." 

"That's the most likely theory," he says to the first question.

"Gifts can be really varied. They can't create lifeforce out of nothing. Also, they don't really mess with space and time. Which is a strike against the 'creating a whole other world' theory - there is just not a better explanation. Gifts can be things like moving matter, transmuting it, affecting the classical elements, affecting the chemical elements, becoming intangible, sensing things. And so on."

"...Those memory crystals," Alex speaks up, a little uncertain of his welcome, "You mentioned that there's all those effects caused by crystals in Elsewhere. Could there have been more kinds in Epoch, at some point, or could they have had the ability to make them?" 

"That's a connection, yeah. But we don't know for sure. They have memories of ancient past, but they are patchy and not really informative. Nothing that shows that they had other kinds of magic."

(Alex nods, thoughtful.) 

"What about the last world? Earth, Elsewhere, Elan, Exile, Epoch, and...?"

"Efross. Annexed after Earth was. Their humans have the ability to absorb, store and release heat, which they managed to evolve because of a magical field their universe naturally has, which the downside that the field is causing an ice age, and they most have Stone Age level of technology. It's the least populated."

"That sounds like a pretty powerful ability," he notes. "How easy is it to visit these worlds, anyway?" He asks. He'd like to see all of them, himself, even the dead ones - ancient ruins sound interesting! 

"I mean, it's not that different from traveling between continents?"

"If you know the right people. I mean. And I guess depends on where you want to go or if you just want to check an item off a bucket list. There are portal hubs that sell you the technical experience of going to another world."

"No, not like that - I want to actually see them." He's not much of one for guided tours. For one thing, they usually stay on the ground. 

"You don't really learn what a place is like, if you're just seeing the parts they show the tourists. You've gotta... go off the map. Talk to all sorts of people, explore, get lost." Sure, it can be a bit dangerous, but that's part of the fun of it. 

"Aw, man we should organize a trip together at some point. Though, I am also the sort to like guided tours. And those are doable. Except in Epoch, pretty sure that you can't... go hiking without being too dangerous, or worse, boring."

"Boring?"

"If you're well-warded enough a dust storm is basically standing on sand, blind and deaf."

He makes a face, "Yeah, that doesn't sound like a good time. How well mapped out are these places, anyway? There's gotta still be new things to discover, right? It might be worth the chance of getting caught in a dust storm, then." 

"There are definitely new things to discover. They have teams for that stuff if you don't mind sharing the glory."

"Might be a good idea to try Exile or Epoch first. Somewhere with air that can sustain you."

"It's not really about glory - It's about walking somewhere no one's been in ages, finding things no one's seen. So I wouldn't mind company." 

He shrugs at Felix, "You're probably right, even if I could probably last a bit longer in thin air with my gift." 

"Ooh, I didn't even consider that application. Can you make a air bubble around you while underwater?"

"We are totally related."

He grins a little shyly at Temple's comment. 

"Yeah! We lived near the ocean for a bit, I used to go not-snorkling." 

"Oh, neat! My ability to manipulate air is not that good, but I want to try something like that."

"Being able to manipulate the water helps, too," he nods.

"Are there oceans in Elsewhere?" Alex wonders. "How large is it?" 

"About five thousand kilometers in diameter. And sadly no oceans. Geographically it's kinda boring, but it's expands slowly and all interworld movement needs to go through it."

"Huh. That's really not a lot of space," he comments. 

"Guess it's good there's all these other worlds attached," Jamie agrees. 

He glances out the window, "You think it's dark enough now?" 

"That's about the area of Russia, but I guess it's relative. And, yes, I think it's dark enough now."

"Oh, right," he stands, "The balcony's really not very big, if you need any sort of space for this it would probably be better to do it inside the door. We can move the table." There's a dining table taking up most of the space in front of the window, leaving the balcony door partly blocked. 

"We can do it inside and then you can go outside, no worries."

"I will be joining you. Entirely because you need supervision and not because flight is awesome."

He goes through his notes and starts preparing the spell. Part of it involves writing symbols on their stomachs with sharpie.

"...Was that sarcasm?" He asks, uncertain. 

His shirt will come off, then. He does his best not to flinch away from the tickly sharpie. 

Jamie watches curiously from the couch. 

And after a bit of careful chanting and a few gestures, Alexei is much lighter on his feet.

...It's a little uncomfortable, really. Jamie has taken him flying before, but trusting him is different from trusting magic he doesn't know. 

Can he just will himself up, or is it more complicated than that?

It's pretty intuitive, there is a mental action to push himself in a direction, and it defaults into floating him in place in air.

Alright then. He'll practise a bit in the living room, first. 

"Actually being in control of this is... different," he comments. Also, he is flying by magic. His lips turn up a bit as he hovers over Jamie. 

Jamie valiantly resists the urge to join them in the air, climbing to his feet to open the balcony door, "Come on, enough practise, don't you wanna try it out there?" He urges Alex. He will live vicariously through him for the moment. 

He snorts, "I see what you're doing, Jay," he says. He does float out onto the balcony, though. 

He doesn't actually like heights much, but he's used to them. Out into the open air he goes, pausing just outside to look around. 

The coast is clear, or at least clear enough that they it's unlikely for anyone to spot them. "Lets go up really fast to avoid being caught?"

"Sounds good to me," he agrees. 

Straight up into the air he goes, eyes on the sky, noting the few stars which can be seen despite the light pollution. 

Eventually he stops to look out over the city, shivering a bit in the cool air. The view is pretty stunning. 

Temple follows up and his presence appears to be followed with a rush of hot air.

"Now remember. Happy thoughts. Second star to the right and straight on 'til morning."

He snorts, "If you're Peter Pan does that make Felix Tinkerbell, or one of the Lost Boys?" 

Shrug. "Closer to Lost Boys, Wendy."

He huffs a laugh. 

"How do we get to Neverland from here?" He asks. He shakes his head, "I mean - Elsewhere."

"There is a portal hub... in that direction, but several hours away."

"Portals, hm. That must make travel easier. Not sure how Jamie will like that - he likes the journey as much as reaching the destination. More opportunity for... sudden travel tangents." 

"Portals are really hard to aim, like, realistically, you're hoping to land on the right side of the continent you want. But it does leads to shortcuts that take you through four different planets sometimes."

"...That seems like a recipe for getting dragged off to explore every world in between," he comments, smiling faintly but fondly. 

"Oh, don't even remind me. I am still very much tempted every time and I travel for my work."

"Then I guess if you do arrange any trips with him you'll have to leave a lot of time free for delays in the schedule." 

"Valid, will you be coming along?"

"Likely," he agrees. He's not really comfortable with the idea of leaving Jamie to go wandering around the universe without him. 

"But do you want to?"

"...Yes. Not as much as he does, but I am curious." He pauses, "Does your translation magic help a person learn the language or just translate it for them?" 

"It can do both. Though, magic that does direct skill transfer os pretty expensive and complex. Enough that most people prefer to pay the upkeep of temporary solutions and learn the long way."

"Mm. I don't mind learning the hard way.

"How good is the temporary translation? I can't imagine it would be able to get across the full meaning of lyrics or poetry."

"Yeah, that's hard without effectively making a telepathic bond with someone that gets the language. And there is a range on efficiency, some translation just matches a meaning to a word without care for grammar or context. But some is really good at give you a level of understanding similar to someone fluent in the language."

"How do rituals like that work, anyway - and like this flying one, I suppose. Do you pay for it as you use it or give an upfront amount of lifeforce and then cast another once it runs out?" 

Is he significantly more tired now than he was when they left?

He does not feel more tired. "You can do both ways. I mean, you can pay upfront or as you go along. For flight, I paid an upfront cost, and I am fueling a bit more to maintain. Rituals are versatile like that."

"How long should we stay up here, then?" He asks, looking out over the lights of the city. "I wouldn't want to leave you too tired."

"I can give you half an hour without it being too much trouble. No worries."

"Will you still be able to take Jamie up if you do? He's the one who will really enjoy this." Not to say he isn't, the view is incredible, and having control over where he goes is much better, and every so often he is reminded that this is magic which he can learn, which he can do himself, but.

"Felix can take a turn? I can push it, it's just... a bad example, specially given your brother."

"Yeah. He doesn't need any more incentive to push himself.

"I've been... trying to keep him on the ground more, lately. Our rule is, half an hour, once every three days. It's not enough, but I don't want to push him hard enough he tries going behind my back. I'd rather not have to limit him at all," he adds, frustrated. "I hope he gets a gift actually meant for flying, which he can use as much as he wants." 

Nod. He circles around. "Even if he doesn't. Other means to express himself magically might help. If nothing else, I can probably enchant that let's him fly less expensively."

"Maybe. And... that would be good of you," he adds, awkward. He's not sure how they'd pay for something like that. Or. If he'd expect them to pay. What does it even mean, to be related to him and his family?

"We," he pauses uncertainly, then continues, slowly and haltingly.

"We've never... had anyone, other than ourselves. Not really. I don't... Know what to expect. From you, or anyone else in your family." 

"Aw, I am sorry to hear that. We really don't know what we can expect from you, but I think we might be able to get along. And we... we already have decided to not demand anything, just find our distant relatives and let them know. Anything that comes from that will... just evolve naturally, I guess."

"I think we've decided to go with you, at least to meet the rest of the family, and see some of the other worlds, if you're really offering that," he says. "What kind of people would we have to be to say no to an opportunity like this? There's nothing holding us here."

"That's the spirit!" He flies closer to give him a pat on the back. "And we are really offering that… It's not even just us. You are sorcerers. People would like to employ you if nothing else."

He will accept pats.

"That will be new and different," he says, wry. 

Temple flies in front of him to make a show of shrugging.

"...How much did your investigator actually find out about us?" 

"I don't know everything, but the summary was that you got into the foster system when young. And didn't have much of a stable life. There was... I think it was the incident when James got his power? A hospital stay with an unusual good recovery despite the intense injuries, and few answers around the cause. It isn't the sort of thing that get to us fast, but it was one of the flags that marked you for further investigation."

So they don't know about Davin, then, just the results of what he did. 

He nods. 

He nods. "Anyway, we don't just go about offering for people to stay with us indefinitely, but you're welcome to at least a visit so everyone can get to know you, and we will definitely get you in contact with the right people if you want to hone your magical potential."

"I wouldn't expect you to, no. A visit sounds like a good idea, though." He pauses, "I'll have to call in sick to work," he muses. "Or... possibly just quit." That will be cathartic. 

"A visit can potentially last a few weeks if you two need a place to get back to your feet?"

"We should at least meet your family, first, before we go making any long term plans," he says, reluctantly responsible. Someone has to be.

"To make sure it's not a disaster," he adds. 

"Reasonable... do you have any idea how it could turn out to be a disaster?"

"Our personalities might clash somehow," he shrugs. "People have been known to find us difficult. Too flighty and distractable, in Jay's case. Too quiet, and too... willing to turn an insult or a bigoted comment into a fight, in mine." 

"Ah, I can see that how that clashes with some people. We are not bigoted. There is like, four queer people in the house. I am not sure I mentioned that?"

"You didn't, no," he agrees. "That's promising, though. Some of the fosters were..." he trails off. 

"Neither of us is straight," he adds. 'Bi' is probably the most succint way of describing his own sexuality, while as far as he can tell Jamie's never been particularly attracted to a woman.

"I got into a lot of fights as a teenager, and not just about that. Not as though homophobia is the only bigotry around." 

"What are they like? Your family." 

"Man, that's very hard to answer... Dad is very... accepting." He makes a face. "Okay, what I am going to say might sound scaring, but dad cares about his family and... that's pretty much it. Our lifeforce vault can potentially kill the entire surrounding forest and town, and that moves him some, but the destruction of our family's legacy was a stronger motivator. But he is not... imposing, he always made clear that he would let us be free to be ourselves."

"He sounds like a good dad," he offers, uncertain. Not like he has any experience in the area. "Even if he's not the best person." 

"Describes him very well. Anyway, he got two sons from his first marriage. They are twins as well - it might run in the family. Aaron and Topher. I sometimes think that they try their best to be polar opposites. Aaron is more athletic and physically minded, adventurous, if wasn't for the family business he would probably want to travel and explore. But he doesn't resent having to stay much."

Alex nods, flying closer to hear better. "It sounds like Jamie will like him, based on that description," he comments.

"Hopefully. His twin, Topher, is likewise more intellectually inclined, likes to read dry history books, likes to dress formally even at home... He is gay, Aaron is straight. To add to the twin yin-yang thing. Topher's boyfriend Sawney is another distant relative and lives with us."

"Huh. I don't think we fit that stereotype. Different, but we're not opposites. They must have some things in common, right?" 

"I am exaggerating, but I have felt that I was closer to Aaron than Topher at times. And they get along. They just will argue about what to do in a Saturday afternoon more often than not."

"And I'm pretty sure all siblings do that, sometimes," he agrees with a nod. "Twin stereotypes are... Well, I get it, some of them apply to us, even, and I'm sure they all apply to some pairs somewhere. They're just..." he shrugs. All stereotypes are kind of annoying. 

"So who comes after them? How many siblings do you have?" 

"Five. All half-brothers. After the twins there is Franklyn, by my father's second wife. Franklyn is very sweet. Very gentle giant - he is over six feet tall - and he takes care of the animals and nature around our house - he can communicate with animals. And he was the sibling that was closest to me, while growing up. Not as adventurous as me or Aaron, but still open to it? He is just also content in staying at home nursing a raccoon back to health."

His lips turn up a bit, "Cute," he comments. "Sounds like he belongs in a Disney movie," he adds.

"Oh, he has definitely has run across the woods singing while his troop of woodland creatures followed. Except, that he flies... he also doesn't like clothes."

"I guess the meeting will be very memorable, then," he says, eyebrows raised at the mental image this description produces. 

"He can be dressed if it makes you two uncomfortable."

"I don't think uncomfortable is the right word," he says, amused. "Though I guess that depends on how closely related we are." For him, anyway. Jamie could not give less of a fuck. "Anyway, it's his home. If he prefers not to wear clothes, he shouldn't have to, whether it bothers us or not."

Temple laughs. "Uh... noted. And I am sure he will appreciate it. Either way."

He huffs a laugh, "Good to know." 

"After Franklyn?"

"He is a beautiful bastard, but the best of them all. Me!" He bows to Alexei while still flying. "Dad never married my mother, she was just helping him out with his situation. I like long walks on the beach, the sunset, and exploring the new realms of magical research. Also, traveling. My job is almost professional travelling problem solver."

He laughs a little more openly this time, "Is that how you introduce yourself to all your long-lost distant cousins? Should I do the same? And what kind of problems - magic ones, I'm guessing?" 

"Yup. I work for an organization called The High Library of magic, which does things like running magical academies and magical utilities. I am an independent researcher, so I move around a lot, covering gaps or providing insights."

"It sounds like it suits you," he says. "Not really something I'd want to do as... a life-path, though." He pauses, "This... being able to be magic - it's amazing, though I don't think it's really finished hitting me, even though," he gestures around them. They are literally floating in mid-air. He's done this before, though, of course, with Jamie. He shakes his head, "But I don't think it will be a passion for me like some things are."

Shrug. "I can't say I get, but I can say that I am cool with it. Magic is neat."

"It does seem that way," he agrees with a smile. Now that it's not going to slowly kill his brother, at any rate.

"I wanted to do music, for a living," he says, "Though the fame of being a celebrity always sounded..." uncomfortable. 

"Restrictive?" He offers. "Elsewhere still has need of musicians, though I don't think the situation is that much different over there."

"That's a word, yeah. Also, the lack of privacy - constant media attention, the public thinking they have a right to dictate celebrities' lives, the paparazzi... I want to be able to share what I write, and have people enjoy it, but I don't want any of that."

After a moment, he shrugs, "I could be wrong about just how much I'll take to this, anyway."

"Who's next after you?"

"Understandable. That would be Morgan, full-brother to Franklyn. He is... he cares, but he really doesn't want people to know he cares and he can be prickly. But he takes care of us and is our best healer. You will probably take a leave from admonishing James on overusing his gift."

"So long as he's not too harsh about it..." he trails off with a shrug, "Jay knows he shouldn't use it, admonishment doesn't do much." 

"Morgan stands to learn a bit about being gentle, but I don't think he will be too harsh. He reserves that to the people he truly loves," Temple says dryly.

He snorts, "Alright. And the youngest?" 

"Adam, he and Morgan have the largest age gap, and he still in High School. Adam is nerdy, plays a few instruments, is in the robotics team and is... the most normal and no nonsense among us. Sometimes I think that he and Franklyn's soul got switched because or something because he acts like a grumpy old man. But mostly he keeps to himself."

He nods, "It sounds like your house must get pretty hectic," he comments, "With all those personalities in one place." 

"It was terrible in the old house when we had to share bedrooms. Got better and worse when the new one was built and we were just getting into High School. Today we reached an equilibrium. Anyway.  That's my family. Though I didn't explain Sawney, who lives there."

"Another relative? How many have you found, anyway?"

"Oh, besides you guys and Sawney? We found eight more. Half are male. But one of them is an old man that didn't want anything to do with magic, and didn't want his son and grandchildren anything to do with magic. There is Henry, who was working as a Lightkeeper in Elsewhere. Meeting him was how I met the triplets, actually. He occasionally drops by with his boyfriend Gabe. One of the adult women we found also didn't want to do anything with us. The other woman has two daughters, and we have contact, but they aren't close. Out of those only The woman we don't keep in contact with and Henry are known to be a naturalborn sorcerers. The grandchildren I previously mentioned are untested."

"Do the son and grandchildren agree with that decision?" He asks. 

"The son does, we don't know if the grandchildren have been informed. We are going to wait until the grandchildren are bit older to try to approach them to be sure."

"They're pretty young, then? I guess I end up thinking more about what kids want than most people do," he admits. "Just - I mean, if your family had come to one of our fosters when we were kids and they'd told you 'no'-" he shrugs.

"They are sev- No, wait. That was years ago. They should be around nine and five now, I think? And that's a valid concern, but I don't there think were any signs of abuse or there is any problem with their environment? It's not that I don't think the children shouldn't know. It's just that I don't think that knowing now would improve things for them."

"I guess most kids would have a hard time keeping a secret like this," he muses. "And if they couldn't learn to do anything with it yet - is there an age limit?"

"Getting gifts requires a level of mental discipline that would be hard at their age. Is hard enough for adults. And ritual magic. Well, you saw a ritual. Some are even more complicated than that. But I think the main concern was just not creating a bad environment for them. If it already started bad, do you think it would be improved if they disagreed on what to do about magic? Unless you mean something else with age limit?"

"No, that's about what I meant. I guess I just don't like the idea of keeping secrets from people they," he pauses, searching for a word, "apply to, especially. Even kids. I get it, though." If it would make everything worse for them, with no tangible benefit, and no way out - yeah, he can agree with not telling them, then, especially so young. 

"Oh, I agree. Still, it's sad that they don't know. Anyway, Sawney came to live with us because we are more accepting than his other family." Pause. "You know, I am wondering if all the queer us in the house is less a coincidence or just a selection pressure because the environment is more welcoming. Dad couldn't care less and actually was supportive when we wanted to try magic that affects attraction. Oh, I never mentioned that Franklyn is biromantic that uses magic to be fully bi. I am bicurious, but a single use of the same magic knocked something loose there."

"There's magic that affects attraction?" That's a pretty terrifying idea, he hopes no one is using it for the sort of things it would be used for in much of this world. "What do you mean by 'knocked something loose'? You weren't bicurious before?" 

"Oh, sorry. That was probably confusing. I was bicurious before, and now I am outright bi. Or to be more precise, before I wish I could feel attracted to men, but didn't and now I do."

"Oh, alright." He pauses, "Jay might like to try that, if one of us learned to do it."

"Are there laws about mind-affecting magic?" 

"Oh, absolutely. Enforcing them is part of The High Library's job. Enforcing magical laws in general, but mind-affecting magic is of special concern. It's not common for it to be misuse, but, well, it is scary."

"No kidding." 

Eventually, it's time to go down.

...Has Temple been keeping track of where the apartment is, because Alex did not do that thing.

Temple has enough experience flying to have been looking to have done so, at least enough that they only take a few minutes to locate their balcony.

Oh good, and when they get close enough he'll be able to recognize things on street level and point them in the right direction from there. 

(Some time earlier...)

Jamie lingers on the balcony as they fly off, watching longingly. 

Felix pats his back. "Don't worry. I am sure you will be up there again soon enough." Pause. "Ideally with through the ritual version. And I bet the Grayward's property is even better for flying."

He nods, offering Felix a smile, "I guess it would have to be, if magic is known there."

"...I really don't want to hurt myself, you know. It was just. It didn't seem like there was any way to fix the problem which wouldn't be... awful." 

"I think I understand or at least I believe that you're being sincere. We are just worried, that's all. Could you explain the problem?"

"...I feel trapped, if I'm stuck on the ground for too long. Getting high up helps, but not enough, and the temptation to fly is harder to ignore when I'm so close." 

"It wasn't always this bad," he adds quietly, "The trapped feeling. I used to be able to stand it longer. It... reminds me." The longer he stays on the ground, the worse the nightmares. He hardly sleeps on the off days, maybe three fitful hours, if he's lucky. It's only making things worse. 

"Oh, I am sorry. Have you tried getting help for that? Also, do you want a hug?"

"I'd love a hug."

Hug. He is a good hugger.

It's a good hug, yeah, very warm.

(He's actually very cold, he suddenly realizes. It's possible he shouldn't be standing on the balcony in a tank top.)

"Too many things I couldn't tell them about, if I did go to therapy or something." He says after a moment, answering the other question. "There wouldn't be much point if I couldn't tell them why I'm like this. We don't stay long in one place, anyway." 

Nod. "I figured something like that was at play. ...I am not sure Earth has therapists in the know, but Elsewhere or Elan should have. I bet they can rig something long-distance."

He nods, a little reluctantly, "That's probably a good idea," he admits. 

"You don't have to do anything you're not comfortable with, but anything that gives you a health gift..."

"...Yeah, I... Yeah." If he can trust they won't tell anyone about what happened to the one who did that to him, anyway. 

Pat pat. Good hugging. 

"...We should go inside," He says eventually, reluctantly unhugging. "I should make some food, we haven't eaten yet." And he really can't afford to skip meals. 

He sure doesn't, but Felix doesn't say that. "Sure, can I help?"

"I wasn't gonna make anything too complicated, but sure." 

Inside, and into the kitchen, where food can be made. Enough for Felix and Temple as well, if they're hungry?

They will love to stay, if they don't mind having them.

Well it would definitely be rude to boot them out the door at this point! 

Food: is made. Jamie's not a culinary genius or anything, but he knows his way around a kitchen. By the time Temple and Alex come through the balcony door, the stir-fry is getting close to being finished, and the apartment smells very nice. 

It sure does. Temple sniffs the air.

Chicken! Veggies! The sweet and savory sauce - with a bit of a kick - he'd made with Felix's help fills the air with its delicious scent. 

They can see Jamie poking at the wok with a fork through the half-wall separating living room and kitchen, considering the softness of the carrots. He spears one and pops it in his mouth.

"Hm! I think it's ready," he tells Felix, "Try it?" He offers him a bit of broccoli. 

Nom. "Very good."

He grins, "Great! Let's dish it out, then!" 

He turns, catching sight of Alex and Temple as he does, "Hey, you're back! How was it? Can I try next?"

He huffs a laugh, "Eat, first," he says. 

"It was good," he adds, "We mostly just hovered over the city. Talked." 

He snorts, "All of the sky to explore and you picked a spot to sit around and chat?" Jamie loves him dearly but Alex can be so ridiculous sometimes. 

"Hey, the important thing is not the journey, but the friends we made along the way. Or something."

He laughs, "I guess you have a point. Come on back, we made chicken stir-fry, and there's enough for everyone," he waves his fork at the stove. 

Alex will grab some bowls and cutlery to hand out before dishing up his own serving, and then wandering out into the living room to sit on the couch.

Stir-fry: nom. 

Nom! Temple approves. "So, about you coming over to my family's home. How would be you schedule if you do decide to come?"

"I work six days a week," Alex says, attention on his food. "I'll have to say I've got a family emergency or something if we're going anywhere for more than a day. Technically true." Might still get him fired. He's working under the table, it's not like he has job security. He really should just quit, if it really looks like they could make something better of themselves thanks to this situation. 

"Ouch... Even if you don't want to move in with us or whatever, we might be able to help you get a better job?"

"Maybe. We don't exactly have much in the way of official qualifications." 

Shrug. "It still sounds like a solvable problem but the sort where dad can give better advice than I do. Or at least more general advice than 'magic is great, why would you pick any other career?'"

"We should look into careers that require magic, too," he says with a shrug, "Just because I don't think I'll love it as much as music doesn't mean I couldn't love it at all. It'd be pretty disappointing to go back to a mundane job after learning I could be doing magic instead, anyway."

"Yeah, what kind of people would we have to be to have you give us this kind of opportunity and just go 'no thanks, we'd rather go back to working awful hours doing boring things'?"

They nod. "As magical career go, the worst possible case scenario you will be... err, the lifeforce battery for some more talented caster. The worst probable case scenario is being sent to a small town and become lightkeepers there - people who oversee magical infrastructure and control the local day-night cycle."

"Probably even the worst probable scenario would be better than this. I mean. Assuming we weren't stuck there all the time." He'd probably be fine with being someone's battery if it was the right someone, too. 

"They have vacation days, yeah. And the health benefits are an essential part of the job."

"An essential part? What do you mean by that?" 

"It was a joke. Because health is a resource for the magic to use?"

"Oh," he reddens a bit. 

(Jamie pats his knee.)

 "So I guess the verdict is, quit my job?"

"I mean, I feel obliged to recommend you to wait a couple of days or something, but it sure sounds like it."

"Mm." He swallows his food, "Next day off is in two days. Could call in tomorrow, and we could spend a day or two meeting your family, depending on how that goes." 

"Which of the worlds do you guys live on anyway?" 

"Oh, boring world Earth, I am afraid. Our family are one of the few."

"Aw, so we won't be going to another one?" 

"Or will we be taking a portal shortcut and ending up back on Earth?" 

"The second thing. Unless you feel strongly about flying coach. I think the route passes by Australia at some point, but nowhere interesting."

"Portals? No one told me about this! The route just goes through Earth?" 

"I think we mentioned but didn't elaborate. They are hard to target, but stay in place and you can still use them for shortcuts if the placement is lucky."

"So where else does this shortcut go through, and can we look around while we're there?" Even if it's just random wilderness, if it's another world's random wilderness it'll be interesting!

"We'll be on a schedule, Jay." Alex reminds him. 

He huffs, "Yeah, I guess it's not the time," he admits reluctantly. 

"Yeah. And also it isn't an actual travel vehicle, rather a cargo one. It shouldn't be too uncomfortable, though. And we might be able to see Elsewhere's fauna."

"Ooo!" 

"You guys have a place to stay the night while you're in the city? If you're staying in the city, that is." 

They could probably put them up, if they don't mind sleeping in the living room. He figures they probably have better options, though. 

"We got a motel room. No worries."

Oh good. 

"Plans for tomorrow then? Should we be bringing anything beyond an overnight bag? Do we need ID to travel like this for some reason?" 

"IDs are good, but not necessary. I don't think you need to bring anything specific. Do you preferences or needs regarding travel or your stay?"

Jay sleeps even less when he sleeps alone, but Alex doesn't want to just come out and ask for one room.

"We'll be fine with whatever," Jamie says with a shrug. No reason one of them can't just move into the other's room when they go to bed. 

"I mean, windows, on the way there, and in the rooms. But I figure that's a given." 

"Yeah. That we got you covered. Can't give you choice of view when we get there, but no worries."

"Guess that's settled then. Ice cream before you go?" Dessert is an important part of dinner, after all. 

Ice cream! They give out some contact information (just in case) and leave them be.

They go to bed, but not to sleep, at first talking over the events of the day. Then it finally hits him fully, that Jamie is not going to die or be miserable for the rest of their life. They're gonna be okay. The understanding of this hits him hard, leaving him light and breathless. 

They don't get to sleep until the early hours of the morning. 

Temple and Felix are there to pick them up.

They're ready to go when they arrive, breakfast packed to go. Om nom omelette bagels. Presumably Temple and Felix ate before they got there, but they can also have omelette bagels if not.

Temple takes a bite just because he is curious about the taste. But they ate.

Felix is driving, they brough some pastries in case the two got hungry/hadn't ate breakfast.

Alex nudges pastries at Jamie but doesn't eat any himself. 

Pastries! Jamie will accept this type of mothering with enthusiasm! 

Good, he needs to eat to grow big and strong.

Does this car have a USB port or Bluetooth?

It does. It's a rental, so they take a second to figure it out where.

He will put some music on, then, if no one objects. Classic rock, a good fit for a road trip. 

"How far are we driving?" He asks when that's all set up. He'd said 'several hours' yesterday, but that's not very specific. 

"We are going to drive about an hour in this rental, and then take one or more cargo trucks the rest of the way. Do you need anything?"

He shrugs, "Not really."

Jamie nudges him, "Tell us more about where we're going? What's your family's home like?"

"It's very nice. We have a huge property at the edge of the forest. We have a pool and sauna."

Felix turns to the twins. "They also have eight bedrooms, attached bathrooms with a bathtub each too. A library. A home theater with a screen that slides down by control remote. Plus a gym. There is also an guest house, where their governess lives with the security team. Oh, and did they get around to rebuilding the greenhouse?"

"Yes. Should I have elaborated further?"

He laughs, "I guess so! Is the forest available for wandering around in?" He can maybe restrain himself if not, but he can't imagine why it wouldn't be. 

"Governess?" Alex asks, eyebrows raised. 

"Oh, yes. I don't remember the exact laws around it, but you can walk around the forest. Felix misused the term. She is our housekeeper. And former nanny. Since dad had five boys as close to each other as he could he and my stepmom needed the extra help."