" - I told him at one point he could lie to me any time it'd be useful for stupid spell with a motive test purposes but that I was inconveniently really hard to lie to - thank you for trying, though -"

" - Obliviate," says Michael to his brother, and then when Miranda shoots him an outraged glance - "I can never get it to stick longer than five minutes and he won't be mad about a temporary one - try it again - Confundo -"

...Miranda repeats herself.

Great so he can have Cam who can't trust him back -  malicious intent, malicious intent, his head is weirdly fuzzy probably the panic but he settles his brain into intending to hurt Cam to get him back - and not let go, he couldn't do this intending to ever let go -

"Imperio -"

- Cam does not look like a deathwish when next allowed to wake.

Miranda relaxes.

He takes a deep breath. 

His head is still annoyingly fuzzy.

He squeezes Cam's hand. 

Well, if he wants Cam to squeeze back then Cam will do that.

Yep. He wants Cam to close his eyes and pretend to be relaxedly sleeping, trying to get him to explain to the onlookers might be pushing the spell too far -

"He mentioned earlier that it had a very soothing effect," he says quietly to everybody. "Thought it might snap him out of it. I think it'd be better for him not to be surrounded by panicked people when he wakes up - if you don't mind -"

The Elves leave.

The wizards totally don't leave.

"- are you two dating -"

"Uh - we - were?"

"Awwwwwwwwwww."

"That explains a lot!"

"You could have told us, you know, people actually generally like someone better when they know they're not literally perfect in every way."

Cam rests his head on Timothy's shoulder and closes his eyes and exhibits total relaxation.

...quite apart from being an asinine remark this really isn't the time, Michael, Miranda doesn't comment aloud.

"Well, consider yourselves told and leave us alone."

Miranda shoos.

He'd like Cam to accompany him upstairs. 

He's not going to do anything wrong he's just going to hold him compared to having Imperiused him against his will it does not seem likely Cam will object to having been cuddled -

Cam follows him upstairs and snuggles up.

Fantastic. 

Can he even get meaningful answers to - "do you know what's going on?"

Distantly - "No -"

He should stop it, of course, but he did it by sincerely intending not to, intending never to - not that he expects Cam to find this a good reason -

- his head is still fuzzy why is his head so fuzzy -

- oh -

Snuggle.

He would like Cam to kiss him he would not like Cam to kiss him Cam is probably getting such confusingly mixed signals - 

- he sits up and puts his head in his hands and whimpers and sorts out the actual chain of events -

"- mmf?" mumbles Cam at the confusing mixed signals.

"Even 1802 has figured out that this is super evil," he says, and pets him, and tries to have uncomplicated preferences about what Cam is doing while he thinks - 

- okay. He wants Cam to go find Michael and tell him that Miranda's father's a Muggle and her mother a Muggle-born.

Cam instead burrows a little further into the snuggle and sighs.

- okay. 

- no deathwish, though? -

Hard to tell with his face smushed against Timothy like that. It's... convenient that he doesn't have to breathe?

He feels terrifically convenienced.

Cuddles.

"Thanks," Cam murmurs into Timothy's robes.

Oh good he still hadn't been entirely sure - 

"It's dead, Miranda killed it. If you missed that bit."

"- what's dead? What happened?"

" - that was a Dementor."

"Oh."

"A Dementor that is now dead, we didn't even know that was possible."

"Good for Miranda."

"Yeah. You should let her know you're okay, when you are in fact okay. - what did it do -"

"It was - the part when I was watching the planet crumple and I couldn't change my mind any more and even if I checked my mail and in the three seconds since I'd last checked it someone had sent a desperate message to abort - something wrong with the oath, some way to kill Melkor or sabotage the uploads, some excuse - too late, it was always going to be a thing I did - and right then for just a second I was convinced there'd be a letter like that when I checked -"

Squeeze. 

"I'm so sorry."

"You helped. It's okay."

"I mind-controlled you while believing you wouldn't be okay with me doing that. Very helpful."

"You say that as though it is somehow false."

"I just - you can in fact be upset by that if you want, it wouldn't be unreasonable -"

Snuggle.

Snuggle.

"What happened after she killed it?"

"- I was still in exams - everyone came running and you looked really awful so they had Michael repeatedly stunning you - Michael asked Miranda if he should try a cheering charm, she was worried it'd just confuse you - I came back - they explained what was going on - I thought this'd work to snap you out of it so I tried to cast it and couldn't - told Miranda that - she tried to convince me that you wouldn't be okay with it, that - you told me not to do it again and I hadn't even asked her permission and you'd be angry - she was lying, I noticed - I thanked her for trying - 

- then Michael erased the last thirty seconds and Confunded me and had her try again and that time I didn't notice she was lying so I believed her and then I could cast it and then my family noticed I was gay and then I told everyone to go away and brought you here - 

- uh, we just cuddled, if you don't remember -"

"I remember all the parts after you cast it. It's fine." Snuggle.

"As long as it's actually fine and not just 'who am I to complain about ethics -"

"...I am a bit wrung out, and, like, it would be hypocritical to deny you the chance to have a moral crisis but can you do it later."

"Sure, sorry -"

"Thanks. - should probably send Miranda a note if you can do that without getting up."

Snuggles. They are very important.

He can do that without getting up.

And then he can be snuggled more. Cam seems to be debating the wisdom of falling asleep on him.

"I didn't have plans for the rest of today."

"Good. - Is there magic for nightmares -"

"Yeah - potions -" he waves the door open. He Accios one.

Cam sits up enough to swallow and quaffs the potion and collapses on Timothy.

He holds him for a while and then falls asleep as well.

Cam's still asleep when Timothy wakes.

He writes everybody else letters letting them know that Cam threw off the Imperius Curse basically the instant Timothy tried to make him do anything except lie down and relax - not that he expects them to take his word for it, considering - and here are future precautionary measures please comply, and here is how to recognize a Dementor for everyone who can't just see them. 

Two of these - modified to take into account that their recipients missed all the drama - find their way out to the lake. 

He has eventually taken a break from singing to ask Amriac if she minds making them both dinner. He reads the note over dinner. "- do you happen to know what the Imperius Curse even is -"

"Some mind control spell. There's this guy who's into that sorta thing, they were testing if it worked on daeva."

"- huh. Maybe I should spend some time inside, don't want to miss all of the adventure."

"There's lots going on but it's hard to keep track of so I'm just focusing on the interesting bits."

"That's fair enough. I'm mostly doing the same but would like to be informed enough not to miss any interesting bits."

"Sure," Amriac says agreeably.

"Shall we go in?"

"Sure." Inwards!

Where things are fairly chill! There're some Elves at the (closed) door. Michael is idly levitating things and shifts to idly levitating things while idly glaring at the two of them. 

"Uh," says Amriac to Michael. "What?"

"You missed all the excitement. There was a dementor! There was a lot of not-exactly-consensual use of dark magic! Apparently Timothy and Cam are involved."

"- huh."

"Awwww."

"Also I don't know how long it's been for the two of you because Milliways doesn't do time consistently, but it's been a week and a half in here."

"Oh, wow, not that long, like a few days?"

"Ah. Do Elves not sleep."

"Less than humans. Does everyone else have rooms arranged in here?"

"You should probably telepath your brother, I dunno."

" - he says yes, they can make the rooms pretty enough at least for the time being. The Moon arcologies are prettier so apparently it's a popular assignment."

"I'd be down for more experimental brain surgery if they get those things working in Muggle humans."

"They're very useful. - they're not where the species difference in musical aptitude comes from, though."

Am I that obnoxious, he refrains from asking. "Uh huh."

"What is it then?" wonders Amriac.

"Not sure. I thought it might just be the absence of humans who were older than a hundred but if it were that you'd think daeva'd find Elves less impressive."

"We were pretty excited when humans invented audio recording so we could figure out what their music was supposed to sound like, too."

"Do you think that's all there is to it?"

"Novelty is important! I don't know if that's all..."

"I guess we'll see soon enough."

"In, like, a century?"

"Or a few, yeah...also depends how many other worlds get publicly known..."

"What a time to be alive," says Amriac. "Anyway why were you glowering at me, Michael."

"Among we mortal species vanishing for a week and a half is bad manners but I guess if it wasn't a week and a half for you you're excused. I was glowering at him because he is full of himself and it's obnoxious."

"We are the same person."

"Yeah that's most of what makes it obnoxious."

"You could've come out and said hi, you know."

"It would've been a little awkward sitting there while you hit on him."

Amriac rolls her eyes and sighs and goes over and plops herself into Michael's lap. "Don't let's be jealous, I don't think he even noticed and you haven't made the slightest implication you wanted me to yourself even if I were in the market for that."